REFRIGERANT CYCLE DEVICE

• US 20150159933A1
• Filed: 02/16/2015
• Published: 06/11/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: ITOH, Satoshi, INABA, Atsushi, KUWAHARA, Mikiharu
• Granted Patent: US 9,494,355 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00807 the input being a specific way of measuring or calculating an air or coolant temperature
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00921 where the flow direction of the refrigerant does not change and there is an extra subcondenser, e.g. in an air duct
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 3/1405 in which the humidity of the air is exclusively affected by contact with the evaporator of a closed-circuit cooling system or heat pump circuit
• CPC Class Codes: F25B 2600/2513 Expansion valves
• CPC Class Codes: F25B 41/20 Disposition of valves, e.g. of on-off valves or flow control valves expansion valves F25B41/31
• CPC Class Codes: F25B 41/24 Arrangement of shut-off valves for disconnecting a part of the refrigerant cycle, e.g. an outdoor part
• CPC Class Codes: F25B 41/385 Dispositions with two or more expansion means arranged in parallel on a refrigerant line leading to the same evaporator
• CPC Class Codes: F25B 41/39 Dispositions with two or more expansion means arranged in series, i.e. multi-stage expansion, on a refrigerant line leading to the same evaporator
• CPC Class Codes: F25B 49/022 Compressor control arrangements

Abstract

A refrigerant cycle device includes a first refrigerant passage for guiding refrigerant from a refrigerant radiator to an inlet side of an outdoor heat exchanger, a first throttle part capable of varying an opening area of the first refrigerant passage, a second refrigerant passage for guiding the refrigerant from the outdoor heat exchanger to a compressor-suction side, a first opening/closing part for opening/closing the second refrigerant passage, a third refrigerant passage for guiding the refrigerant from the outdoor heat exchanger to the compressor-suction side via an evaporator, a second throttle part capable of varying an opening area of the third refrigerant passage, a bypass passage for guiding the refrigerant flowing between the refrigerant radiator and the first throttle part to a position between the outdoor heat exchanger and the second throttle part in the third refrigerant passage, and a second opening/closing part for opening/closing the bypass passage.

Claims

1. A refrigerant cycle device comprising:

a compressor configured to suck, compress, and discharge refrigerant;

a refrigerant radiator disposed to radiate heat of the refrigerant discharged from the compressor to thereby heat an external fluid;

a first pressure reducing part disposed to reduce pressure of the refrigerant flowing out of the refrigerant radiator to thereby expand the refrigerant;

an evaporator disposed to evaporate the refrigerant reduced in pressure by the first pressure reducing part to thereby absorb heat from the external fluid; and

a second pressure reducing part that reduces pressure of the refrigerant evaporated by the evaporator and to be sucked by the compressor and that is configured to vary an amount of pressure reduction, wherein

one of an amount of the refrigerant discharged from the compressor and an amount of pressure reduction of the refrigerant of the second pressure reducing part is adjusted in such a way that a heating capacity of the refrigerant radiator or a value of a physical amount related to the heating capacity becomes equal to a heating target value, and

the other of the amount of the refrigerant discharged from the compressor and the amount of pressure reduction of the refrigerant of the second pressure reducing part is adjusted in such a way that a heat absorbing capacity of the evaporator or a value of a physical amount related to the heat absorbing capacity becomes equal to a heat-absorption target value.

2. The refrigerant cycle device as in claim 1, further comprising:

a control part for controlling the amount of discharge of the refrigerant of the compressor on the basis of the heating capacity or the value of the physical amount related to the heating capacity, wherein

the second pressure reducing part is a constant-pressure valve that prevents a refrigerant pressure in the evaporator from becoming less than a specified pressure even if pressure of the refrigerant sucked by the compressor becomes lower,

the control part controls the amount of discharge of the refrigerant in such a way that the heating capacity or the value of the physical amount related to the heating capacity becomes equal to the heating target value, and

the second pressure reducing part adjusts the amount of pressure reduction of the refrigerant in such a way that the heat absorbing capacity or the physical amount related to the heat absorbing capacity becomes equal to the heat-absorption target value.

3. The refrigerant cycle device as in claim 1, further comprising:

a control part for controlling the amount of discharge of the refrigerant of the compressor and the amount of pressure reduction of the refrigerant of the second pressure reducing part on the basis of the heating capacity or the value of the physical amount related to the heating capacity and the heat absorbing capacity or the value of physical amount related to the heat absorbing capacity, wherein

the control part controls one of the amount of discharge of the refrigerant and the amount of pressure reduction of the refrigerant in such a way that the heating capacity or the value of the physical amount related to the heating capacity becomes equal to the heating target value, and

the control part controls the other of the amount of discharge of the refrigerant and the amount of pressure reduction of the refrigerant in such a way that the heat absorbing capacity or the value of the physical amount related to the heat absorbing capacity becomes equal to the heat-absorption target value.

4. The refrigerant cycle device as in claim 3, wherein

the second pressure reducing part includes a fixed throttle valve having a throttle fixed, and an opening/closing valve that is arranged in parallel to the fixed throttle valve and that is switched between an opened state and a closed state, and

the control part switches between the opened state and the closed state of the opening/closing valve to control the amount of pressure reduction of the refrigerant.

5. The refrigerant cycle device as in claim 1, wherein

the refrigerant radiator and the evaporator are arranged in a duct in such a way that the evaporator is arranged on a more upstream side of a flow of the air than the refrigerant radiator,

the evaporator is configured to absorb heat from the air to dehumidify the air, and

the refrigerant radiator is configured to heat the air flowing from the evaporator.