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Test chamber providing rapid changes of climate temperature

  • US 4,911,230 A
  • Filed: 06/16/1989
  • Issued: 03/27/1990
  • Est. Priority Date: 01/15/1987
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A climatic test chamber comprising a test room and an air-conditioning room and means for circulating air of said test room through said air-conditioning room, and further comprising:

  • a heat exchanger (5) in said air-conditioning room (2) for heating or cooling air of said test room (2) and of a construction suitable for operation either as an evaporator or as a condenser according to the direction of circulation of a first fluid heat transfer medium therethrough between upper and lower flow connections for said heat transfer medium which are provided for said heat exchanger (5);

    first (22) and second (23) three-port, two-path switching valve means each having a port for a common path portion, passing through said heat exchanger, for said first fluid heat transfer medium, said first switching valve means (22) having its common path portion port connected to said upper flow connection of said heat exchanger, said second switching valve means (23) having its common path portion port connected to said lower flow connection of said heat exchanger and situated for accepting gravity feed of condensate from said lower flow connection of said heat exchanger (5);

    said first and second valve means (22,

         23) being controllable for substantially simutaneously switching their respective common path ports between respective first path ports and respective second path ports of said switching valve means for reversing the flow of said first heat transfer medium through said heat exchanger (5) and simultaneously transferring said flow from a first path (11,

         12) for cooling said flow to a second path (11'"'"', 12'"'"') for heating said flow, or from said second to said first path;

    a condenser (11) having a vapor inlet connected to said first path port of said first switching valve means (22), a condensate outlet connected for gravity feed of condensate to said first path port of said second switching valve means (23) and containing cooling means for condensing said vapor comprising an evaporator for a second fluid heat transfer medium connected for circulation of said second fluid heat transfer medium through a cooling system including said evaporator (13) in said condenser (11) for said first fluid heat transfer medium;

    an evaporator (11'"'"') for said first fluid heat transfer medium having a condensate inlet connected for gravity feed thereto of said first medium from said second-path port of said second switching valve means (23), a vapor outlet connected for supplying vapor to said second path of said first switching valve means (22) and means (19) for heating and vaporizing said condensate,said first fluid heat transfer medium being a tempering system medium having a boiling point variable over a wide range of climate temperatures according to its pressure and said first second paths each constituting, together with said heat exchanger (5) in said air conditioning room, a system in which the pressure rises as air temperature in said test chamber increases and falls as air temperature falls in said test chamber.

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