REFRIGERANT CIRCUIT SYSTEM
A refrigerant circuit for a vehicle heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system is disclosed, wherein the refrigerant circuit includes a combined component including an internal heat exchanger and an accumulator, and wherein a cost and difficulty of manufacture and assembly thereof are minimized, and an efficiency thereof is maximized.
This application claims the benefit of German Patent Application No. 102006038728.7 REFRIGERANT CIRCUIT SYSTEM filed on Aug. 11, 2006, hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe invention generally relates to a refrigerant circuit system and more particularly, to a refrigerant circuit system for a vehicle heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system (HVAC).
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONRefrigerant circuit systems that employ CO2, as a refrigerant are particularly used in motor vehicle HVACs. Refrigerant circuit systems are provided with a compressor for compressing the gas and a gas cooler for cooling the gas discharged by the compressor. After the gas has been cooled down in the gas cooler, it flows into an internal heat exchanger. The internal heat exchanger functions to transfer heat within the system for supercooling from the high-pressure side to the low-pressure side, which is thereby heated. The high-pressure exit of the internal heat exchanger directs the refrigerant to an expansion member which reduces the pressure of the refrigerant. The expanding refrigerant is passed through an evaporator, to the outside of which air is directed which is thus cooled to serve for vehicle air conditioning. Coming from the evaporator the refrigerant is fed to the accumulator where the refrigerant is intermediately stored before a quantity of refrigerant required, dependent on the operational state, again reaches the compressor. Another function of the accumulator is to provide a refrigerant reserve stock to compensate for leakage losses which occur in the maintenance interval.
In HVACs, systems are increasingly used that contain two evaporators switched in parallel. In addition to the two evaporators switched in parallel, the refrigerant circuit of such a prior art HVAC includes a compressor, a gas cooler, an internal heat exchanger, and two expansion members arranged upstream of the two parallel evaporators. From a compressor, the refrigerant at high pressure reaches a gas cooler where the refrigerant is cooled by an environmental air current. Then the refrigerant flows over the high-pressure entrance into the internal heat exchanger and, after having passed the internal heat exchanger, over a high-pressure exit to a manifold connection. The manifold connection is located on the refrigerant line, the manifold, being established as a three-way screwed connector, dividing the refrigerant line into two branches which run parallel to each other. Downstream in each of the branches, first, an expansion member is disposed which the refrigerant reaches after having passed the manifold. In each of the two branches of the refrigerant line, the expanding refrigerant is then directed to an evaporator, to the outside of which air is directed, which on its part is cooled thereby to serve for vehicle air conditioning. Both branches then lead from the respective evaporator over two different entrances into a collector (accumulator), where the refrigerant is intermediately stored before over the low-pressure entrance it can flow into the internal heat exchanger and from there over the low-pressure exit reach the compressor again.
In such two-evaporator systems, additional manifold connections are required. Typically, these manifold connections are located on a refrigerant line thus requiring an additional screwing process each at both the high-pressure and low-pressure sides, as there is a second evaporator branch which in addition to the second evaporator includes a second expansion member upstream to the second evaporator. Thus, the increased number of screwing points and growing interconnection of the lines not only results in increased effort during manufacture, but also raised material costs.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to produce a refrigerant circuit system for use in vehicle HVACs, wherein a cost and difficulty of manufacture and assembly thereof are minimized, and an efficiency thereof is maximized.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONHarmonious with the present invention, a refrigerant circuit system for use in vehicle HVACs, wherein a cost and difficulty of manufacture and assembly thereof are minimized, and an efficiency thereof is maximized, has surprisingly been discovered.
In one embodiment, a refrigerant circuit system comprises a compressor; a gas cooler in fluid communication with the compressor; a combined component in fluid communication with the compressor and the gas cooler, the combined component including an internal heat exchanger and an accumulator, the internal heat exchanger including a high-pressure entrance and a pair of high pressure exits, the accumulator including a pair of low pressure entrances and a low pressure exit; and a pair of branches including an evaporator and an expansion member, wherein one of the branches is in fluid communication with one of the high pressure exits of the internal heat exchanger and one of the low pressure entrances of the accumulator and the other of the branches is in fluid communication with the other of the high pressure exits of the internal heat exchanger and the other of the low pressure entrances of the accumulator.
In another embodiment, a refrigerant circuit system comprises a compressor; a gas cooler in fluid communication with the compressor; a combined component in fluid communication with the compressor and the gas cooler, the combined component including an internal heat exchanger and an accumulator, the internal heat exchanger including a high-pressure entrance and a pair of high pressure exits, the accumulator including a pair of low pressure entrances and a low pressure exit; a refrigerant line for interconnecting the gas cooler to the compressor, the gas cooler to the combined component, and the combined component to the compressor; and a pair of branches including an evaporator and an expansion member, wherein one of the branches is in fluid communication with one of the high pressure exits of the internal heat exchanger and one of the low pressure entrances of the accumulator and the other of the branches is in fluid communication with the other of the high pressure exits of the internal heat exchanger and the other of the low pressure entrances of the accumulator, and wherein the evaporators are disposed downstream of the expansion members, and the pair of branches form a parallel circuit from the combined component.
In another embodiment, a refrigerant circuit system comprises a compressor; a gas cooler in fluid communication with the compressor; a combined component in fluid communication with the compressor and the gas cooler, the combined component including an internal heat exchanger and an accumulator, the internal heat exchanger including a high-pressure entrance and a pair of high pressure exits, the accumulator including a pair of low pressure entrances and a low pressure exit; a refrigerant line for interconnecting the gas cooler to the compressor, the gas cooler to the combined component, and the combined component to the compressor; a pair of branches including an evaporator and an expansion member, wherein one of the branches is in fluid communication with one of the high pressure exits of the internal heat exchanger and one of the low pressure entrances of the accumulator and the other of the branches is in fluid communication with the other of the high pressure exits of the internal heat exchanger and the other of the low pressure entrances of the accumulator, and wherein the evaporators are disposed downstream of the expansion members, and the pair of branches form a parallel circuit from the combined component; and a manifold disposed on the combined component, wherein the manifold facilitates communication between the combined component and the pair of branches, the manifold including a first double connection element that facilitates communication between the manifold and the expansion member and manifold and the evaporator in one of the branches, and a second double connection element that facilitates communication between the manifold and the expansion member and the manifold and the evaporator in the other one of the branches.
The problem is solved by a refrigerant circuit system, particularly for a motor vehicle HVAC with CO2 as refrigerant, the system provided with two evaporators switched in parallel as well as a combined component which includes an internal heat exchanger and an accumulator so that the functionalities of an internal heat exchanger and an accumulator are combined within one single component. The invention is characterized by that three-way screwing points, which in prior art are placed on the refrigerant lines, are shifted to the combined component comprising an accumulator and an internal heat exchanger.
In the refrigerant circuit system according to this invention, the refrigerant is directed along the refrigerant line over a compressor and a gas cooler into the high-pressure entrance of an internal heat exchanger which has to transfer within the system heat for supercooling from the high-pressure side to the low-pressure side which on its part is thereby heated. Downstream of the high-pressure exit of the internal heat exchanger, the refrigerant line divides into two different branches switched in parallel to each other, each provided with an expansion member and an evaporator downstream of each expansion member. According to the invention, the internal heat exchanger together with the accumulator forms one component in the form of a combined component. In this combined component, the refrigerant, which is passed through the internal heat exchanger on the high-pressure side thereof, comes into thermal contact with the refrigerant taken from the accumulator, where it has been intermediately stored on the low-pressure side thereof. According to the invention, the two parallel switched branches of the refrigerant line, in each of which an expansion member and an evaporator located downstream of the expansion member are disposed, start at one of the high-pressure exits of the combined component comprising an internal heat exchanger and an accumulator to end into a low-pressure entrance of the combined component. The low-pressure entrances of the combined component, comprising an internal heat exchanger and an accumulator, lead into the low-pressure accumulator region of the combined component, the region serving to intermediately store the refrigerant at low pressure. When the intermediately stored refrigerant is taken, the refrigerant flows over the low-pressure exit of the combined component comprising an internal heat exchanger and an accumulator along the refrigerant line again to the compressor so that the refrigerant circuit system is closed.
The principle of the invention is that the connection points to the two evaporators are shifted from the refrigerant lines (prior art) to the combined component comprising an accumulator and an internal heat exchanger. In order to achieve that, a manifold is disposed on the combined component comprising an internal heat exchanger and an accumulator in an embodiment of the invention. The manifold contains the screwing points for the connection of the combined component to the two branches switched parallel to each other.
In one embodiment, the manifold is equipped with double connection elements, which allows a minimization of the number of screwing points and simplifies the interconnection of the lines, resulting in a more clearly arranged line design.
The double connection elements ensure to make the connections of the combined component to one, in each case, of the parallel switched branches of the refrigerant line with expansion member and evaporator on both the high-pressure side and the low-pressure side.
A first double connection element includes two connections for the refrigerant line for the first branch of the parallel switched branches of the refrigerant line. One connection is at the first high-pressure exit from the combined component provided for that portion of the refrigerant line that leads from the first high-pressure exit to the first expansion member. A second connection, provided at the first low-pressure entrance, connects the first evaporator to the first low-pressure entrance of the combined component by means of the refrigerant line.
A second double connection element includes two connections for the refrigerant line in the second branch. This double connection element can be placed in parallel opposite to or in parallel above, or below, respectively, of the first double connection element. However, an arrangement is also possible where the double connection elements are placed in parallel at different levels and on opposite sides. In all cases, a first connection placed at the second high-pressure exit of the combined component is provided for the portion of the refrigerant line that leads from the second high-pressure exit to the second expansion member. A second connection placed at the second low-pressure entrance of the combined component serves to attach the portion of the refrigerant line that leads from the second evaporator to the second low-pressure entrance.
Typically, either one or two screws are required for fastening a double connection element which save time-intensive screwing operations.
Compared to prior art, the solution according to this invention facilitates a cost-effective and time-effective manufacture process.
The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from reading the following descriptions of several embodiments of the invention when considered in the light of the accompanying drawings in which:
The following detailed description and appended drawings describe and illustrate various exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description and drawings serve to enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any manner.
The block diagram of
In
In
In this embodiment, as opposed to the embodiment in
Due to the arrangements of the invention according to
The inner high-pressure exit manifold 60 facilitates the connection of the two high-pressure exit holes 57.1, 57.2 to the internal heat exchanger 26 of the combined component 27. In the center of the hollow channel 61.2, which extends from the first high-pressure exit hole 57.1 to the second high-pressure exit hole 57.2, there is a circular hole of the connection channel 63 which runs perpendicular to the hollow channel 61.2, wherein the circular hole leads to the pipe of the internal heat exchanger 26.
The T-shaped arrangement of the internal low-pressure entrance manifold 59 is shown in
A detailed view of the manifold 29 with connections which are arranged parallel above another as shown in FIG. 4b is shown in
Referring to the identification of the cutting planes A-A and B-B, respectively, of
The inner high-pressure exit manifold 77 connects the two high-pressure exit holes 73 to the internal heat exchanger 26 of the combined component 27. The short entrance channels 78 lead into a connection channel 80 which is positioned perpendicular to the entrance channels 78.
The F-shaped arrangement of the internal low-pressure entrance manifold 76 is shown in
From the foregoing description, one ordinarily skilled in the art can easily ascertain the essential characteristics of this invention and, without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, can make various changes and modifications to the invention to adapt it to various usages and conditions.
Claims
1. A refrigerant circuit comprising:
- a compressor;
- a gas cooler in fluid communication with the compressor;
- a combined component in fluid communication with the compressor and the gas cooler, the combined component including an internal heat exchanger and an accumulator, the internal heat exchanger including a high-pressure entrance and a pair of high pressure exits, the accumulator including a pair of low pressure entrances and a low pressure exit;
- a first branch including an evaporator and an expansion member, wherein the first branch is in fluid communication with one of the high pressure exits of the internal heat exchanger and one of the low pressure entrances of the accumulator; and
- a second branch including an evaporator and an expansion member, wherein the second branch is in fluid communication with the other of the high pressure exits of the internal heat exchanger and the other of the low pressure entrances of the accumulator.
2. The refrigerant circuit according to claim 1, wherein a refrigerant flowing through the internal heat exchanger is in thermal communication with a refrigerant in the accumulator.
3. The refrigerant circuit according to claim 1, wherein the first branch and the second branch form parallel circuits in respect of the combined component.
4. The refrigerant circuit according to claim 1, further comprising a means for interconnecting the gas cooler to the compressor, the gas cooler to the combined component, and the combined component to the compressor.
5. The refrigerant circuit according to claim 4, wherein the means for interconnecting the gas cooler to the compressor, the gas cooler to the combined component, and the combined component to the compressor is a refrigerant line.
6. The refrigerant circuit according to claim 1, wherein the evaporators are disposed downstream of the expansion members in each of the first branch and the second branch.
7. The refrigerant circuit according to claim 1, further comprising a manifold disposed on the combined component, wherein the manifold facilitates communication between the combined component and the first branch and the second branch.
8. The refrigerant circuit according to claim 7, wherein the manifold includes a first double connection element that facilitates communication between the manifold and the expansion member and manifold and the evaporator in the first branch.
9. The refrigerant circuit according to claim 8, wherein the manifold includes a second double connection element that facilitates communication between the manifold and the expansion member and the manifold and the evaporator in the second branch.
10. The refrigerant circuit according to claim 9, wherein the first double connection element is disposed in parallel and opposite to the second double connection element.
11. The refrigerant circuit according to claim 9, wherein the first double connection element is disposed in parallel and above the second double connection element.
12. The refrigerant circuit according to claim 9, wherein each of the double connection elements includes a single screw for fastening.
13. The refrigerant circuit according to claim 9, wherein each of the double connection elements includes two screws for fastening.
14. A refrigerant circuit system comprising:
- a compressor;
- a gas cooler in fluid communication with the compressor;
- a combined component in fluid communication with the compressor and the gas cooler, the combined component including an internal heat exchanger and an accumulator, the internal heat exchanger including a high-pressure entrance and a pair of high pressure exits, the accumulator including a pair of low pressure entrances and a low pressure exit;
- a refrigerant line for interconnecting the gas cooler to the compressor, the gas cooler to the combined component, and the combined component to the compressor;
- a first branch including an evaporator and an expansion member, wherein the first branch is in fluid communication with one of the high pressure exits of the internal heat exchanger and one of the low pressure entrances of the accumulator; and
- a second branch including an evaporator and an expansion member, wherein the second branch is in fluid communication with the other of the high pressure exits of the internal heat exchanger and the other of the low pressure entrances of the accumulator, and wherein the evaporators of the first branch and the second branch are disposed downstream of the expansion members, the first branch and the second branch forming parallel circuits in respect of the combined component.
15. The refrigerant circuit according to claim 14, wherein a refrigerant flowing through the internal heat exchanger is in thermal communication with a refrigerant in the accumulator.
16. The refrigerant circuit according to claim 14, further comprising a manifold disposed on the combined component, wherein the manifold facilitates communication between the combined component and the first branch and the second branch.
17. The refrigerant circuit according to claim 16, wherein the manifold includes a first double connection element that facilitates communication between the manifold and the expansion member and the manifold and the evaporator in the first branch.
18. The refrigerant circuit according to claim 17, wherein the manifold includes a second double connection element that facilitates communication between the manifold and the expansion member and the manifold and the evaporator in the second branch.
19. A refrigerant circuit system comprising:
- a compressor;
- a gas cooler in fluid communication with the compressor;
- a combined component in fluid communication with the compressor and the gas cooler, the combined component including an internal heat exchanger and an accumulator, the internal heat exchanger including a high-pressure entrance and a pair of high pressure exits, the accumulator including a pair of low pressure entrances and a low pressure exit;
- a refrigerant line for interconnecting the gas cooler to the compressor, the gas cooler to the combined component, and the combined component to the compressor;
- a pair of branches including an evaporator and an expansion member, wherein one of the branches is in fluid communication with one of the high pressure exits of the internal heat exchanger and one of the low pressure entrances of the accumulator and the other of the branches is in fluid communication with the other of the high pressure exits of the internal heat exchanger and the other of the low pressure entrances of the accumulator, and wherein the evaporators are disposed downstream of the expansion members, and the pair of branches form parallel circuits in respect of the combined component; and
- a manifold disposed on the combined component, wherein the manifold facilitates communication between the combined component and the pair of branches, the manifold including a first double connection element that facilitates communication between the manifold and the expansion member and manifold and the evaporator in the one of the branches, and a second double connection element that facilitates communication between the manifold and the expansion member and the manifold and the evaporator in the other of the branches.
20. The refrigerant circuit according to claim 19, wherein a refrigerant flowing through the internal heat exchanger is in thermal communication with a refrigerant in the accumulator.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 24, 2007
Publication Date: Feb 14, 2008
Inventors: Thomas Klotten (Koln), Dominik Prinz (Elsdorf)
Application Number: 11/782,021
International Classification: F25B 5/02 (20060101);