Patents by Inventor Hirofumi Koge

Hirofumi Koge has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10976085
    Abstract: In an air-conditioning apparatus in which air sucked into a casing of an outdoor unit by a fan is discharged from an upper portion of the casing, each of liquid header portions is configured to be connected with each of heat transfer tubes of a plurality of divided regions formed by dividing the outdoor heat exchangers in an up and down direction. Further, a shunt is configured to supply two-phase refrigerant, in which quality is adjusted by a gas-liquid separator, to each of the liquid header portions. To each of the liquid header portions, the shunt supplies the two-phase refrigerant of the amount corresponding to the air quantity of the divided region connected to each of the liquid header portions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2021
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yoji Onaka, Takashi Matsumoto, Hiroyuki Okano, Eito Saito, Hirofumi Koge, Osamu Morimoto, Hiroki Murakami, Hiroaki Nakamune
  • Patent number: 10465935
    Abstract: An air-conditioning apparatus includes; a first heat source device configured to transfer heat to process air using as a heat source a vapor-compression refrigeration cycle; a second heat source device configured to transfer heat to the process air using an other heat source different from the vapor-compression refrigeration cycle; and a controller configured to control the first heat source device and the second heat source device. The controller deactivates the first heat source device and activates the second heat source device when, during a period in which the first heat source device is being operated to heat the process air, a temperature of the heated process air is kept at a target temperature and a parameter indicating an energy consumption of the first heat source device exceeds a first threshold value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Shogo Tamaki, Shinichi Ito, So Nomoto, Hirofumi Koge
  • Patent number: 10451306
    Abstract: An air-conditioning apparatus, including an outdoor unit including a compressor and an outdoor heat exchanger, a plurality of indoor units each including an indoor heat exchanger, and a relay unit configured to distribute refrigerant supplied from the outdoor unit to the plurality of indoor units, the relay unit including a first branch unit in which liquid-side pipes connected to the plurality of indoor units join together, and a refrigerant shutoff valve, which is configured to control bidirectional flow of the refrigerant, and is provided to the first branch unit, the number of the refrigerant shut off valve being smaller than a number of the plurality of indoor units.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2019
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Naofumi Takenaka, Shinichi Wakamoto, Yuji Motomura, Osamu Morimoto, Hirofumi Koge, Koji Yamashita
  • Patent number: 10393418
    Abstract: An air-conditioning apparatus includes an outdoor unit, indoor units, and a relay unit, and forms a refrigerant circuit. The air-conditioning apparatus further includes a fourth flow control device that regulates the flow rate of refrigerant flowing into the heat source unit-side heat exchanger, a switching valve that regulates the flow rate of the refrigerant passing through a bypass pipe, and a control unit that controls the first heat-source-unit flow control device and the switching valve based on a pressure on a refrigerant inlet side of the heat source unit-side heat exchanger, an inlet temperature and an outlet temperature of a medium passing through the heat source unit-side heat exchanger, and the ratio of a cooling operation capacity to a heating operation capacity of the use-side heat exchangers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2019
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Hirofumi Koge, Koji Azuma
  • Publication number: 20190120513
    Abstract: An air-conditioning apparatus includes; a first heat source device configured to transfer heat to process air using as a heat source a vapor-compression refrigeration cycle; a second heat source device configured to transfer heat to the process air using an other heat source different from the vapor-compression refrigeration cycle; and a controller configured to control the first heat source device and the second heat source device. The controller deactivates the first heat source device and activates the second heat source device when, during a period in which the first heat source device is being operated to heat the process air, a temperature of the heated process air is kept at a target temperature and a parameter indicating an energy consumption of the first heat source device exceeds a first threshold value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 20, 2017
    Publication date: April 25, 2019
    Inventors: Shogo TAMAKI, Shinichi ITO, So NOMOTO, Hirofumi KOGE
  • Patent number: 10168060
    Abstract: An air-conditioning apparatus includes a compressor for compressing and discharging refrigerant; an outdoor heat exchanger for exchanging heat between the refrigerant and a heat medium that enters the outdoor heat exchanger; an indoor heat exchanger for exchanging heat between the refrigerant and a surrounding medium of use; a bypass pipe for bypassing the refrigerant that is to enter the outdoor heat exchanger; and a bypass flow control valve arranged on the bypass pipe, for adjusting a flow of the refrigerant that is to enter the outdoor heat exchanger, in which the outdoor heat exchanger includes a first passage through which the refrigerant flows, and a second passage through which the heat medium flows, and in which the first passage allows the refrigerant to flow upward.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Kosuke Tanaka, Hirofumi Koge, Koji Azuma
  • Patent number: 10161647
    Abstract: Provided is an air-conditioning apparatus capable of performing a cooling and heating mixed operation, including: a heat source unit including a compressor; a plurality of indoor units; a relay unit; a first relay unit-side bypass pipe configured to cause a part of refrigerant, which is discharged from the compressor and flows into the relay unit, to flow between a heat source unit-side heat exchanger and an indoor unit-side heat exchanger; a second relay unit-side flow rate control device provided to the first relay unit-side bypass pipe; and a controller configured to control an opening degree of the second relay unit-side flow rate control device so that, in an operation in which the heat source unit-side heat exchanger functions as an evaporator, a discharge temperature of a discharge refrigerant discharged from the compressor is equal to or lower than a heat-resistant temperature of the compressor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2018
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Kosuke Tanaka, Osamu Morimoto, Hirofumi Koge, Tadashi Ariyama
  • Patent number: 10139125
    Abstract: An air-conditioning apparatus includes at least one system including a heat-medium conveying device, a heat-medium flow regulator, and a heat-medium flow control device, as a heat medium system capable of regulating a flow rate of a heat medium supplied to a heat source device-side heat exchanger exchanging heat between refrigerant and the heat medium. The air-conditioning apparatus switches each of a plurality of use-side heat exchangers to a cooling operation or a heating operation in accordance with a control command to perform a cooling and heating simultaneous operation. The refrigerant is caused to flow through the heat source device-side heat exchanger depending on a ratio of a total cooling capacity and a total heating capacity of the plurality of use-side heat exchangers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2018
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Koji Azuma, Hirofumi Koge, Osamu Morimoto, Kensaku Hatanaka, Kazuyoshi Shinozaki
  • Patent number: 10088198
    Abstract: An air-conditioning and hot water supplying composite system includes a heat source unit and a heat source-side heat exchanger, an indoor heat source unit, a hot water supply unit connected to the heat source unit and including a hot water supply-side heat exchanger and a hot water supply-side expansion device, and a controller that controls the heat source unit. The controller includes a mode switching unit that switches a control mode of the air-conditioning and hot water supplying composite system between a hot water supply control mode, a hot water supply preheating mode, and a condensing temperature control unit. The condensing temperature control unit determines the target condensing temperature according to a temperature of a heat medium subjected to heat exchange by the hot water supply unit, in the hot water supply control mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2018
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Tomokazu Kawagoe, Hirofumi Koge, Osamu Morimoto
  • Patent number: 10030894
    Abstract: An air-conditioning apparatus includes a heat medium system configured to control a flow rate of the heat medium supplied to the heat source unit side heat exchanger that exchanges heat between refrigerant and the heat medium, the heat medium system having at least one system of a heat medium conveyor, a heat medium flow rate adjuster, and a heat medium flow rate control device. In the air-conditioning apparatus, the operation of each of use-side heat exchangers is changed to a cooling operation or a heating operation in accordance with a control command, and a cooling and heating concurrent operation is performed. The refrigerant is caused to flow through the heat source unit side heat exchanger in accordance with the ratio of the total cooling capacity of the use-side heat exchangers to the total heating capacity of the use-side heat exchangers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2018
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Koji Azuma, Hirofumi Koge, Osamu Morimoto, Kensaku Hatanaka, Kazuyoshi Shinozaki
  • Patent number: 9915454
    Abstract: An outdoor heat exchanger includes a fan configured to adjust a heat transfer coefficient ao of the outside of a heat transfer tube through which a refrigerant flows, a bypass passage and flow rate control valve configured to adjust a heat transfer coefficient ?i of the inside of the heat transfer tube through which the refrigerant flows, and an on-off valve configured to adjust a heat transfer area A where the refrigerant exchanges heat with a heat medium. A controller controls the heat transfer coefficient ?o of the outside of the heat transfer tube, the heat transfer coefficient ?i of the inside thereof, and the heat transfer area A to control a heat exchange amount of the outdoor heat exchanger.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2018
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Tadashi Ariyama, Kosuke Tanaka, Hirofumi Koge, Hiroyuki Okano
  • Patent number: 9903625
    Abstract: An air-conditioning apparatus includes an injection pipe allowing a part of a refrigerant, as discharged from a compressing device, to flow into an intermediate portion of a compression stroke of the compressing device, and an injection internal heat exchanger that exchanges heat between a refrigerant stream that flows through the injection pipe and a refrigerant stream that flows into a heat-source-side heat exchanger after passing through an indoor unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2018
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Tadashi Ariyama, Osamu Morimoto, Hirofumi Koge, Kosuke Tanaka
  • Patent number: 9829210
    Abstract: An air-conditioning apparatus includes a refrigerant circuit formed by connecting, with pipes, a compressor, a first refrigerant flow switching device, a heat-source-side heat exchanger, an expansion device, and a plurality of intermediate heat exchangers. A heat medium circuit is formed by connecting, with pipes, a plurality of pumps configured to pressurize and circulate the heat medium subjected to heat exchange in the plurality of intermediate heat exchangers, a plurality of use-side heat exchangers each configured to exchange heat between the heat medium and air in an air-conditioned space, and a heat-medium flow switching/control device configured to switch which of the heat medium is to be allowed to flow into and out of each of the use-side heat exchangers; and a controller configured to perform processing for controlling the switching performed by the heat-medium flow switching/control device, in accordance with a capacity of each of the use-side heat exchangers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2017
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Yuji Motomura, Naofumi Takenaka, Shinichi Wakamoto, Hirofumi Koge, Osamu Morimoto
  • Publication number: 20170234576
    Abstract: An air-conditioning and hot water supplying composite system includes a heat source unit and a heat source-side heat exchanger, an indoor heat source unit, a hot water supply unit connected to the heat source unit and including a hot water supply-side heat exchanger and a hot water supply-side expansion device, and a controller that controls the heat source unit. The controller includes a mode switching unit that switches a control mode of the air-conditioning and hot water supplying composite system between a hot water supply control mode, a hot water supply preheating mode, and a condensing temperature control unit. The condensing temperature control unit determines the target condensing temperature according to a temperature of a heat medium subjected to heat exchange by the hot water supply unit, in the hot water supply control mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 27, 2014
    Publication date: August 17, 2017
    Inventors: Tomokazu KAWAGOE, Hirofumi KOGE, Osamu MORIMOTO
  • Patent number: 9719708
    Abstract: In a heating main operation mode in which a load to be processed by the heating operation is dominant during cooling and heating mixed operation, an air-conditioning apparatus closes an opening and closing valve, and adjust the opening degree of an expansion device in accordance with the evaporating temperature of a load-side unit requesting cooling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Okano, Hirofumi Koge
  • Publication number: 20170198945
    Abstract: An air-conditioning apparatus includes a heat medium system configured to control a flow rate of the heat medium supplied to the heat source unit side heat exchanger that exchanges heat between refrigerant and the heat medium, the heat medium system having at least one system of a heat medium conveyor, a heat medium flow rate adjuster, and a heat medium flow rate control device. In the air-conditioning apparatus, the operation of each of use-side heat exchangers is changed to a cooling operation or a heating operation in accordance with a control command, and a cooling and heating concurrent operation is performed. The refrigerant is caused to flow through the heat source unit side heat exchanger in accordance with the ratio of the total cooling capacity of the use-side heat exchangers to the total heating capacity of the use-side heat exchangers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2015
    Publication date: July 13, 2017
    Inventors: Koji AZUMA, Hirofumi KOGE, Osamu MORIMOTO, Kensaku HATANAKA, Kazuyoshi SHINOZAKI
  • Publication number: 20170198946
    Abstract: An air-conditioning apparatus, including an outdoor unit including a compressor and an outdoor heat exchanger, a plurality of indoor units each including an indoor heat exchanger, and a relay unit configured to distribute refrigerant supplied from the outdoor unit to the plurality of indoor units, the relay unit including a first branch unit in which liquid-side pipes connected to the plurality of indoor units join together, and a refrigerant shutoff valve, which is configured to control bidirectional flow of the refrigerant, and is provided to the first branch unit, the number of the refrigerant shut off valve being smaller than a number of the plurality of indoor units.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2015
    Publication date: July 13, 2017
    Applicant: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Naofumi TAKENAKA, Shinichi WAKAMOTO, Yuji MOTOMURA, Osamu MORIMOTO, Hirofumi KOGE, Koji YAMASHITA
  • Patent number: 9644872
    Abstract: The refrigerant discharged from a compressor is distributed based on the priorities set by the user in advance and the remaining refrigerant is further distributed based on the priorities. Thus, setting the priorities for indoor units according, for example, to the usage of work spaces and the like in an office building, the user can operate a heat pump system efficiently in accordance with the intended use. Furthermore, the remaining capacity of the outdoor unit is distribute to the remaining indoor units according to their priorities so that the indoor units are operated efficiently within the range of the cooling capacity of the outdoor unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kosuke Tanaka, Hirofumi Koge, Tomokazu Kawagoe
  • Patent number: 9625187
    Abstract: A combined air-conditioning and hot-water supply system that, if a temperature that is set in a hot-water supply unit is higher than a temperature of refrigerant discharged from a compressor when the combined air-conditioning and hot-water supply system is in a heating operation cycle state, increases a target condensing temperature of an outdoor unit above the target condensing temperature that has been set, and controls an opening degree of an indoor expansion device to be less than the opening degree that has been set, such that a heating load of an indoor unit is maintained constant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Tomokazu Kawagoe, Hirofumi Koge
  • Publication number: 20170097177
    Abstract: An air-conditioning apparatus includes at least one system including a heat-medium conveying device, a heat-medium flow regulator, and a heat-medium flow control device, as a heat medium system capable of regulating a flow rate of a heat medium supplied to a heat source device-side heat exchanger exchanging heat between refrigerant and the heat medium. The air-conditioning apparatus switches each of a plurality of use-side heat exchangers to a cooling operation or a heating operation in accordance with a control command to perform a cooling and heating simultaneous operation. The refrigerant is caused to flow through the heat source device-side heat exchanger depending on a ratio of a total cooling capacity and a total heating capacity of the plurality of use-side heat exchangers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2015
    Publication date: April 6, 2017
    Inventors: Koji AZUMA, Hirofumi KOGE, Osamu MORIMOTO, Kensaku HATANAKA, Kazuyoshi SHINOZAKI