Refrigerant distribution unit for air conditioner

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9689578-B2
Application number	US-201113166662-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 22, 2011
Priority date	Jun 30, 2010
Publication date	Jun 27, 2017
Grant date	Jun 27, 2017

Abstract

A refrigerant distribution unit for an air conditioner, includes: a refrigerant pipe provided on an outdoor unit side; branch refrigerant pipes provided on an indoor unit side; a distribution portion which distributes a refrigerant from the refrigerant pipe to the branch refrigerant pipes; a main unit which stores the distribution portion and includes a first side face from which the refrigerant pipe is drawn out and a second side face from which the branch refrigerant pipes are drawn out; and an electric component box. Each of the branch refrigerant pipes includes a branch gas pipe and a branch liquid pipe which are drawn out from the second side face. The adjacent branch gas pipes are disposed parallel such that lengths of the branch gas pipes increase sequentially from one toward the other, and the adjacent branch liquid pipes are disposed parallel such that lengths of the branch liquid pipes similarly increase sequentially.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A refrigerant distribution unit for an air conditioner, comprising:
a refrigerant pipe configured to be connected to an outdoor-unit-side pipe for an outdoor unit;
a plurality of indoor-unit-side pipes for indoor units;
a plurality of branch refrigerant pipes, wherein each of the plurality of branch refrigerant pipes includes a branch gas pipe and a branch liquid pipe;
wherein each branch refrigerant pipe is respectively configured to be connected to a corresponding indoor-unit-side pipe;
a distribution portion which distributes a refrigerant from the refrigerant pipe to the plurality of branch refrigerant pipes;
a main unit which stores the distribution portion and includes a first side face from which the refrigerant pipe extends and a second side face from which the branch gas pipes and the branch liquid pipes extend, the second side face being opposed to the first side face and forming a reference plane, a third side face adjacent to the first side face and the second side face from which the refrigerant pipe and the plurality of branch refrigerant pipes extend, and a fourth side face adjacent to the first side face and the second side face from which the refrigerant pipe and the plurality of branch refrigerant pipes extend, the third side face being opposed to the fourth side face;
an electric component box, the electric component box having a first sidewall and a second sidewall, wherein the first and second sidewalls are separated by a distance along the reference plane;
a cable connecting the electric component box to the main unit; and
an insulator case provided within the main unit, the insulator case comprising a bottom surface and a first recessed portion formed in the bottom surface,
wherein the electric component box is capable of being provided on either of the third side face or the fourth side face of the main unit,
wherein each branch gas pipe has a first joint portion configured to connect the branch gas pipe to one of the plurality of indoor-unit-side pipes,
wherein each branch liquid pipe has a second joint portion configured to connect the branch liquid pipe to one of the plurality of indoor-unit-side pipes,
wherein the branch gas pipes and the branch liquid pipes extend from the second side face of the main unit in such a manner that the branch gas pipes and the branch liquid pipes are spaced from each other and are parallel to each other,
wherein each first joint portion is disposed at a different distance than each of the other first joint portions from the reference plane,
wherein each second joint portion is disposed at a different distance than each of the other second joint portions from the reference plane,
wherein the branch gas pipes have different lengths and are disposed parallel and adjacent to each other sequentially from a shortest length to a longest length,
wherein the branch liquid pipes have different lengths and are disposed parallel and adjacent to each other sequentially from a shortest length to a longest length,
wherein the refrigerant pipe configured to be connected to the outdoor-unit-side pipe for an outdoor unit includes a gas pipe and a liquid pipe,
wherein all of the portions of the gas pipe and the liquid pipe outside the main unit are linear and arranged parallel to each other with a constant distance therebetween,
wherein the gas pipe and the liquid pipe of the refrigerant pipe are spaced from each other in a horizontal direction,
wherein the branch gas pipe and the branch liquid pipe of each of the plurality of branch refrigerant pipes are spaced from each other in a vertical direction perpendicular to the horizontal direction,
wherein the third side face of the main unit comprises a slot which extends from an edge of the third side face to a middle portion of the third side face,
wherein the fourth side face of the main unit comprises a slot which extends from an edge of the fourth side face towards a middle portion of the fourth side face,
wherein the electric component box further comprises a hole,
wherein the slot of the third side face of the main unit, the slot of the fourth side face of the main unit, and the hole of the electric component box are configured to receive the cable,
wherein the first recessed portion extends along the bottom surface of the insulator case from the slot in the third side face of the main unit to the slot in the fourth side face of the main unit.

2. The refrigerant distribution unit according to claim 1 ,
wherein, in each branch refrigerant pipe, the entire branch gas pipe is linearly parallel to a portion of the branch liquid pipe.

3. The refrigerant distribution unit according to claim 2 ,
wherein the first joint portion is located on a portion of the branch gas pipe that extends linearly from the second side face of the main unit and parallel to the branch liquid pipe.

4. The refrigerant distribution unit according to claim 3 ,
wherein the second joint portion is located on a portion of the branch liquid pipe that extends linearly from the second side face of the main unit and parallel to the branch gas pipe.

5. The refrigerant distribution unit according to claim 4 ,
wherein the first joint portion is located on an end of the branch gas pipe,
wherein the second joint portion is located on an end of the branch liquid pipe.

6. The refrigerant distribution unit according to claim 1 ,
wherein each second joint portion is disposed at a different distance than each corresponding first joint portion of the respective branch refrigerant pipe from the reference plane formed by the second side face of the main unit.

7. The refrigerant distribution unit according to claim 1 ,
wherein the main unit has a first receiving portion and a second receiving portion,
wherein the gas pipe extends through the first receiving portion, and the liquid pipe extends through the second receiving portion.

8. The refrigerant distribution unit according to claim 7 ,
wherein the first receiving portion and the second receiving portion of the main unit are separate from each other.

9. The refrigerant distribution unit according to claim 7 ,
wherein the gas pipe and the liquid pipe are different lengths.

10. The refrigerant distribution unit according to claim 1 , wherein the electric component box is configured to be moved from being provided at one of the third side face or the fourth side face to being provided at the other of the third side face or the fourth side face while the cable remains connected to the electric component box and the main unit.

11. The refrigerant distribution unit according to claim 1 , wherein the cable is capable of being drawn through the first recessed portion formed in the bottom surface of the insulator case to the third side face or the fourth side face of the main unit, through the slot of either of the third side face or the fourth side face of the main unit, and through the hole of the electric component box.

12. The refrigerant distribution unit according to claim 1 , further comprising a seal case provided within the insulator case, the seal case having an opening for receiving the cable;
the insulator case further comprising a second recessed portion formed in the insulator case, wherein the second recessed portion extends from the first recessed portion to the opening for receiving the cable in the seal case.

13. The refrigerant distribution unit according to claim 12 , wherein the cable is capable of being drawn from the opening for receiving the cable in the seal case, through the second recessed portion formed in the insulator case, through the first recessed portion formed in t

Assignees

• Matsuura Shun
• Yamashita Haruki
• Fujitsu General Ltd

Inventors

• Matsuura Shun
• Yamashita Haruki

Classifications

• F24F1/34

  Protection means thereof, e.g. covers for refrigerant pipes · CPC title

• F24F1/26

  Refrigerant piping · CPC title

• Y10T137/8376

  Combined · CPC title

• F24F1/32 Primary

  for connecting the separate outdoor units to indoor units · CPC title

• F25B41/003

  Mechanical Engineering · mapped topic