Air conditioner

- LG Electronics

In an air conditioner, in a general cooling mode, an indoor air is cooled by heat exchange with a main evaporator of a first refrigerant, while in a rapid cooling mode, an indoor air is cooled by heat exchange with an intermediate heat exchanger consisting of a main evaporator of the first refrigerant and a rapid cooling condenser of a second refrigerant and then re-cooled in a rapid cooling evaporator of the second refrigerant, thereby performing a cool and pleasant cooling operation immediately whenever necessary.

Skip to: Description  ·  Claims  · Patent History  ·  Patent History
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an air conditioner in which air cooled by heat exchange with a first refrigerant can be re-cooled by heat exchange with a second refrigerant.

2. Background of the Conventional Art

Generally, an air conditioner is an apparatus for making an indoor space pleasant, and has a cleaning function, dehumidifying function, etc. as well as cooling and heating functions for keeping an indoor air at a pleasant temperature.

Among a variety of functions of the aforementioned air conditioner, the cooling function is performed by the following cooling cycle in which an indoor air is cooled by heat exchange with a refrigerant.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a cooling cycle of an air conditioner according to the conventional art.

The cooling cycle of the air conditioner as shown in FIG. 1 includes: a compressor 2 for compressing a vaporized refrigerant at a high pressure; a condenser 4 for condensing the refrigerant compressed in the compressor 2 at a low temperature by heat exchange with air; an expander 6 for expanding the refrigerant condensed in the condenser 4 at a low pressure; and an evaporator 8 for vaporizing the low temperature, low pressure liquid refrigerant expanded in the expander 6 by heat exchange with air.

The compressor 1 is classified into a single type consisting of one compressor and a multi-type consisting of at least two compressors. The single type compressor 2 can be divided into an inverter whose compression capacity is variable according to the amount of load and a constant speed type whose compression capacity is always constant. The multi-type compressor 2 is provided such that at least two compressors are optionally operated according to the amount of load.

In the cooling cycle of the thus-constructed air conditioner according to the conventional art, an indoor air is cooled by vaporization heat of the refrigerant in the evaporator 8, and the refrigerant vaporized in the evaporator 8 is circulated to a low temperature, low pressure liquid refrigerant while sequentially passing through the compressor 2, condenser 4 and expander 6.

However, in the event that the difference between a current indoor temperature and a target indoor temperature is large, including at the time of initial operation or in case of entering a room being cooled from a hot outside, the air conditioner according to the conventional art cannot provide a cool air immediately because it is difficult to rapidly increase the cooling capacity even due to a large amount of load.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to solve the foregoing conventional problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner which can provide a cool and pleasant air immediately even if the amount of load is large.

To accomplish the above objects, there is provided an air conditioner according to one aspect of the present invention, including: a main compressor, a main condenser and a main expander arranged to compress, condense and expander a first refrigerant sequentially; a rapid cooling compressor for compressing the second refrigerant; an intermediate heat exchanger for cooling an ambient air by vaporization heat of the first refrigerant discharged from the main expander and condensing a second refrigerant discharged from the rapid cooling compressor; a rapid cooling expander for expanding the second refrigerant discharged from the intermediate heat exchanger; and a rapid cooling evaporator located in front of the intermediate heat exchanger so that the air passed through the intermediate heat exchanger can be re-cooled by the vaporization heat of the second refrigerant.

The intermediate heat exchanger is provided in a dual tube structure in which the first refrigerant flows in the inside and the second refrigerant flows in the outside.

The dual tube structure of the intermediate heat exchanger is provided such that the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant flow to the opposite side.

To accomplish the above objects, there is provided an air conditioner according to another aspect of the present invention, including: a main compressor, a main condenser and a main expander arranged to compress, condense and expander a first refrigerant sequentially; a rapid cooling compressor for compressing the second refrigerant; an intermediate heat exchanger for cooling an ambient air by vaporization heat of the first refrigerant discharged from the main expander and condensing a second refrigerant discharged from the rapid cooling compressor; a rapid cooling recondenser for recondensing the second refrigerant condensed in the rapid cooling condenser by heat exchange with ambient air; a rapid cooling expander for expanding the second refrigerant discharged from the intermediate heat exchanger; and a rapid cooling evaporator located in front of the intermediate heat exchanger so that the air passed through the intermediate heat exchanger can be re-cooled by the vaporization heat of the second refrigerant.

The intermediate heat exchanger is provided in a dual tube structure in which the first refrigerant flows in the inside and the second refrigerant flows in the outside.

The dual tube structure of the intermediate heat exchanger is provided such that the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant flow to the opposite side.

The rapid cooling recondenser consists of a sync refrigerant tube through which the second refrigerant flows and a sync air blower for generating an air blow force so that the synch refrigerant tube can be condensed by heat exchange with ambient air.

The rapid cooling evaporator consists of a rapid cooling evaporator refrigerant tube and a plurality of rapid cooling evaporator pins inserted into the outside of the rapid cooling evaporator refrigerant tube.

The first refrigerant is a R-22 refrigerant, and the second refrigerant is a R-23 refrigerant.

The air conditioner further includes an indoor air blower for generating an air blow force so that indoor air passes through the intermediate heat exchanger and the rapid cooling evaporator sequentially.

The air conditioner further includes a control unit for cooling air by the cooling cycle of the first refrigerant in a general cooling mode and rapidly cooling air by the cooling cycle of the first and second refrigerants in a rapid cooling mode.

In the thus-constructed air conditioner according to the present invention, in the general cooling mode, an indoor air is cooled by heat exchange with a main evaporator of the first refrigerant, while in the rapid cooling mode, an indoor air is cooled by heat exchange with the intermediate heat exchanger consisting of a main evaporator of the first refrigerant and the rapid cooling condenser of the second refrigerant and then re-cooled in the rapid cooling evaporator of the second refrigerant, thereby performing a cool and pleasant cooling operation immediately whenever necessary.

Furthermore, the intermediate heat exchanger of the thus-constructed air conditioner according to the present invention is constructed in a dual tube structure, thus the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant can perform a heat exchange with each other without through other mediums. In addition, the first and second refrigerants are provided so that they flow in the opposite direction, thereby improving the efficiency of heat transfer.

Furthermore, the rapid cooling evaporator of the thus-constructed air conditioner according to the present invention consists of a rapid cooling evaporator refrigerant tube and a plurality of rapid cooling evaporator pins inserted into the outside of the rapid cooling evaporator refrigerant tube, thereby improving the efficiency of heat exchange between indoor air and the second refrigerant.

Furthermore, there is further included an indoor air blower for generating an air blow force so that indoor air passes through the intermediate heat exchanger and the rapid cooling evaporator sequentially, whereby the indoor air is smoothly circulated even though the intermediate heat exchanger and the rapid cooling evaporator are provided in a dual structure.

Furthermore, the thus-constructed air conditioner according to the present invention can meet room load and users requirements and improve energy efficiency by operating only the cooling cycle of the first refrigerant in the general cooling mode and both of the cooling cycles of the first and second refrigerants in the rapid cooling mode.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of an air conditioning cycle according to the conventional art;

FIG. 2 is perspective view of an air conditioner according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a system diagram of an air conditioning cycle according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an intermediate heat exchanger of the air conditioner according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating parts of a rapid cooling evaporator of the air conditioner according to the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a graph showing an air conditioning cycle diagram according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is perspective view of an air conditioner according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a system diagram of an air conditioning cycle according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an intermediate heat exchanger of the air conditioner according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating parts of a rapid cooling evaporator of the air conditioner according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a graph showing an air conditioning cycle diagram according to the present invention.

The air conditioner according to the present invention is mainly divided into an indoor unit 50 for cooling an indoor air by heat exchange with a low temperature, low pressure refrigerant and an outdoor unit 52 for returning the refrigerant heat-exchanged with the indoor air to a low temperature, low pressure state from a structural standpoint.

The air conditioner of such a structure has a first cooling cycle in which the indoor air is heat-exchanged with a first refrigerant and a second cooling cycle in which the indoor air cooled by the first cooling cycle is re-cooled at a lower temperature by heat exchange with a second refrigerant.

The first cooling cycle consists of a main compressor 60 for compressing the first compressor, a main condenser 62 for condensing the first refrigerant compressed in the main compressor 60 by releasing heat to the surroundings, a main expander 64 for expanding the first refrigerant condensed in the main condenser 62 and a main evaporator 66 for evaporating the low temperature, low pressure first refrigerant by absorbing the surrounding heat, that is, heat of the indoor air.

The main compressor 60 may be provided in either single type or multi-type. The single type may be either an inverter or a constant speed type.

The main evaporator 66 is located at the indoor unit 50 for heat exchange with the indoor air. The main condenser 62 condenses the first refrigerant by releasing heat, and is located at the outdoor unit 52 so that the first refrigerant does not release heat to the indoor air.

As the first refrigerant applied to the first cooling cycle, preferred is a R-22 refrigerant which has the air conditioning cycle diagram as shown in FIG. 7, and whose condensing temperature in the main condenser 62 is 43.9° C. and whose evaporation temperature in the main evaporator 66 is −16.8° C.

The second cooling cycle consists of a rapid cooling compressor for compressing the second refrigerant, a rapid cooling condenser 72 for condensing the second refrigerant compressed in the rapid cooling compressor 70 by releasing heat to the surroundings, a rapid cooling expander 74 for expanding the second refrigerant condensed in the rapid cooling condenser 72, and a rapid cooling evaporator 76 for evaporating the low temperature, low pressure second refrigerant discharged from the rapid cooling expander 74 by absorbing the surrounding heat, that is, heat of the indoor air cooled in the main evaporator 66.

Like the main compressor 60, the rapid cooling compressor 70 may be provided in either single type or multi-type. The single type may be either an inverter or a constant speed type.

The rapid cooling condenser 72 may be provided in a manner to be located at the indoor unit 50 so that the second refrigerant of the rapid cooling condenser 72 may be condensed by heat exchange with the first refrigerant of the main evaporator 66.

Hereinafter, as described above, the rapid cooling condenser 72 and the main evaporator 66 provided so as to condense the second refrigerant of the rapid cooling condenser 72 by heat exchange with the first refrigerant of the main evaporator 66 are combined and referred to as an intermediate heat exchanger 80.

The intermediate heat exchanger 80 may be provided in a dual tube structure in which a first refrigerant tube 82 through which the first refrigerant flows is located in the outside and a second refrigerant tube 84 through which the second refrigerant flows is located within the first refrigerant tube 72 in the inside.

At this time, it is preferred that the dual tube of the intermediate heat exchanger 80 is provided such that the second refrigerant tube 84 is aligned concentrically with the first refrigerant 82, which may be aligned such that the first and second refrigerants flows in the opposite direction.

It is needless to say that the dual tube of the intermediate heat exchanger 80 is formed of material good for heat exchange so that heat exchange may be easily performed between the first refrigerant and the surrounding air and between the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant. Preferably, it is provided with intermediate heat exchanger heat exchange pins 86 in the outside of the dual tube so that heat exchange with the surrounding air may be performed well.

The thus-constructed intermediate heat exchanger 80 prevents the second refrigerant from a direct heat exchange with the surrounding air of the intermediate heat exchanger 80 by locating the second refrigerant tube 84 within the first refrigerant tube 82.

Meanwhile, the second refrigerant discharged from the rapid cooling condenser 72 is recondensed by the rapid cooling recondenser 78 before expanded in the rapid cooling expander 74

The rapid cooling recondenser 78 may be provided such that the second refrigerant discharged from the rapid cooling condenser 72 of the intermediate heat exchanger 80 is recondensed by heat exchange with a hot outdoor air.

That is, the rapid cooling recondenser 78 may consist of a sync refrigerant tube 78a which is connected to the rapid cooling condenser 72 and rapid cooling expander 74 of the intermediate heat exchanger and through which the second refrigerant discharge from the rapid cooling condenser 72 of the intermediate heat exchanger 80 flows and a sync air blower 78b which blows the outdoor air to the synch refrigerant tube 78a such that the second refrigerant of the sync refrigerant tube 78 may be recondensed by heat exchange with the outdoor air.

Preferably, the sync refrigerant tube 78a is provided at the outdoor unit 52 so that the second refrigerant of the sync refrigerant tube 78a may not release heat to the indoor air because the second refrigerant of the synch refrigerant tube 78a is condensed by releasing heat. A plurality of synch refrigerant tube heat exchange pins may be provided in the outside of the sync refrigerant tube 78a so as to perform heat exchange with the outdoor air well.

Preferably, the rapid cooling evaporator 76 is located at the indoor unit 50, that is, right in front of the intermediate heat exchanger 80 in the flow direction of the indoor air, so that the indoor air cooled in the main evaporator 66 can be re-cooled by heat exchanged with the second refrigerant of the rapid cooling evaporator 76.

The rapid cooling evaporator 76 located right in front of the intermediate heat exchanger 80 may consist of a rapid cooling evaporator refrigerant tube 76a through which the second refrigerant flows and a plurality of rapid cooling evaporator heat exchange pins 76b located in the outside of the rapid cooling evaporator refrigerant tube 76a. Especially, the plurality of rapid cooling evaporator heat exchange pins 76b may be arranged in a arrow in the longitudinal direction of the rapid cooling evaporator refrigerant tube 76a.

As described above, a R-23 refrigerant is preferred as the second refrigerant used in the second cooling cycle because the condensing temperature has to be lower than the evaporation heat quantity of the first refrigerant in the main evaporator 66 so that the second refrigerant can be condensed by heat exchange with the first refrigerant. That is, as the second refrigerant applied to the cooling cycle, preferred is a R-23 refrigerant which has the air conditioning cycle diagram as shown in FIG. 7, and whose condensing temperature in the rapid cooling condenser 72 is −25.3° C. and whose evaporation temperature in the rapid cooling evaporator 76 is −79.7° C.

Moreover, in the second cooling cycle, the rapid cooling compressor 70 and the capacity of the rapid cooling compressor 70 are controlled so that the indoor air can be cooled in the intermediate heat exchanger 80 even if the first refrigerant in the intermediate heat exchanger 80 absorbed heat of the second refrigerant of the rapid cooling condenser 72 as well as heat of the indoor air.

Meanwhile, the air conditioner further includes an indoor air blower 90 located at the indoor unit 50 and for generating an air blow force so that the indoor air is sucked, passes through the intermediate heat exchanger 80 and the rapid cooling evaporator 76 sequentially, and then is discharged to the indoors. Further, the air conditioner further includes an outdoor air blower 92 located at the outdoor unit 52 and for generating an air blow force so that the outdoor air is blown to the main condenser 62.

Moreover, the air conditioner further includes a control unit (not shown) for optionally operating in a general cooling mode in which the indoor air is cooled only by the first cooling cycle and or in a rapid cooling mode in which the indoor air is cooled by the first cooling cycle and then re-cooled by the second cooling cycle.

The control unit can control to operate in the general cooling mode or in the rapid cooling mode according to the amount of load caused by the difference between a current indoor temperature and a target indoor temperature or according to the user's selection of the operation mode.

The cooling operation of the thus-constructed air conditioner according to the present invention will now be described.

In the general mode operation, only the first cooling cycle is run, and the second cooling cycle is stopped.

That is to say, the first refrigerant is compressed at a high temperature in the main compressor 60, the first refrigerant compressed at a high temperature in the main compressor 60 is condensed in the main condenser 62 at a low temperature by heat exchange with the outdoor air blow by the outdoor air blower 92, and the first refrigerant condensed in the main condenser 62 is expanded at a low temperature and a low pressure in the main expander 64.

The first refrigerant expanded in the main expander 64 is evaporated in the main evaporator 66 of the intermediate heat exchanger 80 by heat exchange with the indoor air blown by the air blower 90. The indoor air heat-exchanged with the first refrigerant is cooled in the main evaporator 66 of the intermediate heat exchanger 80.

Since the second cooling cycle is stopped, there is no heat exchange between the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant in the intermediate heat exchanger 80. The indoor air cooled in the intermediate heat exchanger 80 is blown to the rapid cooling evaporator 76 by the indoor air blower 90, which is immediately discharged to the indoors without heat exchange with the second refrigerant in the rapid cooling evaporator 76.

Meanwhile, in the rapid cooling mode operation, both of the first and second cooling cycles are run.

That is, as the first refrigerant is circulated sequentially through the main compressor 60, the main condenser 62, the main expander 64 and the main evaporator 66 of the intermediate heat exchanger 80, it is evaporated in the main evaporator 66 of the intermediate heat exchanger 80 by heat exchange with the indoor air blown by the indoor air blower 90. The indoor air is cooled by heat exchange with the first refrigerant in the main evaporator 66 of the intermediate heat exchanger 80.

Additionally, the second refrigerant is compressed at a high pressure in the rapid cooling compressor 70, and the second refrigerant compressed in the rapid cooling compressor 70 is condensed in the rapid cooling condenser 72 of the intermediate heat exchanger 80 by heat exchange with the first refrigerant of the main evaporator of the intermediate heat exchanger 80.

The second refrigerant condensed in the rapid cooling condenser 72 of the intermediate heat exchanger 80 is recondensed in the rapid cooling recondenser 78 by heat exchange with the outdoor air blown to the rapid cooling recondenser 78 by the sync air blower 78b, and the second refrigerant recondensed in the rapid cooling recondenser 78 is expanded in the rapid cooling expander 74.

The low temperature, low pressure second refrigerant expanded in the rapid cooling expander 74 is evaporated in the rapid cooling evaporator 76 by heat exchange with the indoor air cooled in the main evaporator 66 of the intermediate heat exchanger 80. The indoor air is re-cooled by heat exchange with the second refrigerant in the rapid cooling evaporator 76, and thereafter discharged to the indoors.

Needless to say, during the rapid cooling mode operation, the second refrigerant is also circulated sequentially through the rapid cooling compressor 70, the rapid cooling condenser 72, the rapid cooling recondenser 78, the rapid cooling expander 74 and the rapid cooling evaporator 76, thereby cooling the indoors.

In the thus-constructed air conditioner according to the present invention, in the general cooling mode, an indoor air is cooled by heat exchange with the main evaporator of the first refrigerant, while in the rapid cooling mode, an indoor air is cooled by heat exchange with the intermediate heat exchanger consisting of the main evaporator of the first refrigerant and the rapid cooling condenser of the second refrigerant and then re-cooled in the rapid cooling evaporator of the second refrigerant, thereby performing a cool and pleasant cooling operation immediately whenever necessary.

Furthermore, the intermediate heat exchanger of the thus-constructed air conditioner according to the present invention is constructed in a dual tube structure, thus the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant can perform a heat exchange with each other without through other mediums. In addition, the first and second refrigerants are provided so that they flow in the opposite direction, thereby improving the efficiency of heat transfer.

Furthermore, the rapid cooling evaporator of the thus-constructed air conditioner according to the present invention consists of a rapid cooling evaporator refrigerant tube and a plurality of rapid cooling evaporator pins inserted into the outside of the rapid cooling evaporator refrigerant tube, thereby improving the efficiency of heat exchange between indoor air and the second refrigerant.

Furthermore, there is further included an indoor air blower for generating an air blow force so that indoor air passes through the intermediate heat exchanger and the rapid cooling evaporator sequentially, whereby the indoor air is smoothly circulated even though the intermediate heat exchanger and the rapid cooling evaporator are provided in a dual structure.

Furthermore, the thus-constructed air conditioner according to the present invention can meet room load and users requirements and improve energy efficiency by operating only the cooling cycle of the first refrigerant in the general cooling mode and both of the cooling cycles of the first and second refrigerants in the rapid cooling mode.

Claims

1. An air conditioner, comprising:

a main compressor, a main condenser and a main expander arranged to compress, condense and expander a first refrigerant sequentially;
a rapid cooling compressor for compressing the second refrigerant;
an intermediate heat exchanger for cooling an ambient air by vaporization heat of the first refrigerant discharged from the main expander and condensing a second refrigerant discharged from the rapid cooling compressor;
a rapid cooling expander for expanding the second refrigerant discharged from the intermediate heat exchanger; and
a rapid cooling evaporator located in front of the intermediate heat exchanger so that the air passed through the intermediate heat exchanger can be re-cooled by the vaporization heat of the second refrigerant.

2. The air conditioner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the intermediate heat exchanger is provided in a dual tube structure in which the first refrigerant flows in the inside and the second refrigerant flows in the outside.

3. The air conditioner as claimed in claim 2, wherein the dual tube structure of the intermediate heat exchanger is provided such that the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant flow to the opposite side.

4. An air conditioner, comprising:

a main compressor, a main condenser and a main expander arranged to compress, condense and expander a first refrigerant sequentially;
a rapid cooling compressor for compressing the second refrigerant;
an intermediate heat exchanger for cooling an ambient air by vaporization heat of the first refrigerant discharged from the main expander and condensing a second refrigerant discharged from the rapid cooling compressor;
a rapid cooling recondenser for recondensing the second refrigerant condensed in the rapid cooling condenser by heat exchange with ambient air;
a rapid cooling expander for expanding the second refrigerant discharged from the intermediate heat exchanger; and
a rapid cooling evaporator located in front of the intermediate heat exchanger so that the air passed through the intermediate heat exchanger can be re-cooled by the vaporization heat of the second refrigerant.

5. The air conditioner as claimed in claim 4, wherein the rapid cooling recondenser consists of a sync refrigerant tube through which the second refrigerant flows and a sync air blower for generating an air blow force so that the synch refrigerant tube can be condensed by heat exchange with ambient air.

6. The air conditioner as claimed in claim 4, wherein the rapid cooling evaporator consists of a rapid cooling evaporator refrigerant tube and a plurality of rapid cooling evaporator pins inserted into the outside of the rapid cooling evaporator refrigerant tube.

7. The air conditioner as claimed in claim 4, wherein the first refrigerant is a R-22 refrigerant, and the second refrigerant is a R-23 refrigerant.

8. The air conditioner as claimed in claim 4, further comprising an indoor air blower for generating an air blow force so that indoor air passes through the intermediate heat exchanger and the rapid cooling evaporator sequentially.

9. The air conditioner as claimed in claim 4, further comprising a control unit for cooling air by the cooling cycle of the first refrigerant in a general cooling mode and rapidly cooling air by the cooling cycle of the first and second refrigerants in a rapid cooling mode.

10. An air conditioner, comprising:

a main compressor, a main condenser and a main expander arranged to compress, condense and expander a first refrigerant sequentially;
a rapid cooling compressor for compressing the second refrigerant;
an intermediate heat exchanger provided in a dual tube structure in which a first refrigerant flows in the inside and a second refrigerant flows in the outside for cooling an ambient air by vaporization heat of the first refrigerant discharged from the main expander and condensing the second refrigerant discharged from the rapid cooling compressor;
a rapid cooling recondenser for recondensing the second refrigerant condensed in the rapid cooling condenser by heat exchange with ambient air;
a rapid cooling expander for expanding the second refrigerant discharged from the intermediate heat exchanger; and
a rapid cooling evaporator located in front of the intermediate heat exchanger so that the air passed through the intermediate heat exchanger can be re-cooled by the vaporization heat of the second refrigerant.

11. The air conditioner as claimed in claim 10, wherein the rapid cooling recondenser consists of a sync refrigerant tube through which the second refrigerant flows and a sync air blower for generating an air blow force so that the synch refrigerant tube can be condensed by heat exchange with ambient air.

12. The air conditioner as claimed in claim 10, wherein the rapid cooling evaporator consists of a rapid cooling evaporator refrigerant tube and a plurality of rapid cooling evaporator pins inserted into the outside of the rapid cooling evaporator refrigerant tube.

13. The air conditioner as claimed in claim 10, wherein the first refrigerant is a R-22 refrigerant, and the second refrigerant is a R-23 refrigerant.

14. The air conditioner as claimed in claim 10, further comprising an indoor air blower for generating an air blow force so that indoor air passes through the intermediate heat exchanger and the rapid cooling evaporator sequentially.

15. The air conditioner as claimed in claim 10, further comprising a control unit for cooling air by the cooling cycle of the first refrigerant in a general cooling mode and rapidly cooling air by the cooling cycle of the first and second refrigerants in a rapid cooling mode.

16. The air conditioner as claimed in claim 10, wherein the dual tube structure of the intermediate heat exchanger is provided such that the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant flow to the opposite side.

17. The air conditioner as claimed in claim 16, wherein the rapid cooling recondenser consists of a sync refrigerant tube through which the second refrigerant flows and a sync air blower for generating an air blow force so that the synch refrigerant tube can be condensed by heat exchange with ambient air.

18. The air conditioner as claimed in claim 16, wherein the rapid cooling evaporator consists of a rapid cooling evaporator refrigerant tube and a plurality of rapid cooling evaporator pins inserted into the outside of the rapid cooling evaporator refrigerant tube.

19. The air conditioner as claimed in claim 16, wherein the first refrigerant is a R-22 refrigerant, and the second refrigerant is a R-23 refrigerant.

20. The air conditioner as claimed in claim 16, further comprising an indoor air blower for generating an air blow force so that indoor air passes through the intermediate heat exchanger and the rapid cooling evaporator sequentially.

21. The air conditioner as claimed in claim 16, further comprising a control unit for cooling air by the cooling cycle of the first refrigerant in a general cooling mode and rapidly cooling air by the cooling cycle of the first and second refrigerants in a rapid cooling mode.

Patent History
Publication number: 20060277940
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 13, 2006
Publication Date: Dec 14, 2006
Applicant: LG Electronic Inc. (Seoul)
Inventors: Ji Jang (Sungnam-si), Chan Song (Koyang-si), Jae Sim (Seoul), Se Oh (Seoul)
Application Number: 11/373,110
Classifications
Current U.S. Class: 62/498.000; 62/332.000; 62/510.000
International Classification: F25B 25/00 (20060101); F25B 1/00 (20060101); F25B 1/10 (20060101);