Oil management apparatus for a refrigeration chiller
First Claim
1. Oil management apparatus in a refrigeration chiller comprising:
- an oil supply tank;
means for pumping oil from said supply tank;
oil conduit means in flow communication with at least one chiller location which requires the flow of oil thereto during the operation of said chiller; and
a housing in fluid communication with said supply tank, said housing defining a valve cavity having a valve spindle disposed therein, said valve spindle being positionable to (i) a first position so as to open an oil flow path through said housing from said supply tank to said conduit means, (ii) a second position so as to open a flow path to permit the draining of oil through said housing from said conduit means back to said supply tank and (iii) a third position so as to interrupt and isolate, within said housing, a portion of said oil flow path from said supply tank to said conduit means.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Oil management apparatus for a refrigeration chiller includes a housing mounted to the head wall of an oil supply tank. The housing defines a series of ports and internal flow passages in communication with a valve cavity. A valve spindle disposed in the cavity is configured and positionable such that a plurality of oil flow passages within the chiller are capable of being setup in order to accommodate various chiller lubrication needs including those as they relate to both chiller operation and maintenance. The combination of an integral housing and single valve eliminates a large number of individual valves and the need to connect those valves and various chiller lubrication components, such as an oil filter and oil pressure regulator, with individual sections of difficult to fabricate piping. As a result, the likelihood of error in the setup of a chiller lubrication system is significantly reduced.
18 Citations
24 Claims
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1. Oil management apparatus in a refrigeration chiller comprising:
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an oil supply tank; means for pumping oil from said supply tank; oil conduit means in flow communication with at least one chiller location which requires the flow of oil thereto during the operation of said chiller; and a housing in fluid communication with said supply tank, said housing defining a valve cavity having a valve spindle disposed therein, said valve spindle being positionable to (i) a first position so as to open an oil flow path through said housing from said supply tank to said conduit means, (ii) a second position so as to open a flow path to permit the draining of oil through said housing from said conduit means back to said supply tank and (iii) a third position so as to interrupt and isolate, within said housing, a portion of said oil flow path from said supply tank to said conduit means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An assembly for managing oil flow between an oil supply tank and lubrication points in a refrigeration chiller, said assembly comprising:
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a housing, said housing having an integral filter receptacle, an oil filter disposed in said filter receptacle, an integral regulator receptacle, an oil pressure regulator disposed in said regulator receptacle, a valve cavity, a plurality of internal ports communicating with said valve cavity, first and second external ports communicating with said filter receptacle, said first and second external ports respectively communicating with a first and a second of said internal ports, a third external port in communication with said regulator receptacle, said third external port being a port through which oil is supplied to said housing, a fourth external port communicating with said regulator receptacle and with a third one of said internal ports, and an external oil feed port in flow communication with the lubrication points in the chiller and with a fourth one of said internal ports; and a valve spindle rotatably received within said valve chamber for selectively opening and closing said internal ports. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of controlling the flow of oil to lubrication points in a refrigeration chiller comprising the steps of:
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defining a plurality of flow passages and a valve cavity in an integral housing; disposing a valve spindle in said valve cavity, said valve spindle defining a plurality of notches; disposing an oil pressure regulator on said housing; disposing an oil filter on said housing; flowing oil internal of said housing to said oil pressure regulator through said housing; flowing oil internal of said housing from said oil pressure regulator to said oil filter through said cavity across a first of said spindle notches; and flowing oil internal of said housing from said oil filter through said cavity, across a second of said spindle notches and then out of said housing, said flowing steps operating to provide filtered oil at a predetermined pressure to said chiller lubrication points when said chiller is in normal operations. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
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Specification