Bi-directional refrigerant expansion valve
First Claim
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1. For use in a refrigerant line in an automotive air conditioning system in which the refrigerant carries particulate type contaminants, a bi directional refrigerant expansion valve with combined inlet particulate filter and valve outlet noise attenuation features, comprising:
- a central, cylindrical orifice tube to receive and contract high pressure refrigerant inlet flow and expand it into a low pressure outlet flow, thereby creating expansion noise;
a substantially rigid central plug body adapted to be installed tightly sealed within the interior of said refrigerant line and also tightly sealed around the outside of said orifice tube with each end of said tube extending axially therefrom by the same distance, so that either end of said tube can provide an inlet and the other end an outlet,a pair of substantially rigid, outer particulate screens extending axially beyond each end of said orifice tube, each outer screen having a mesh just sufficiently small to exclude substantially all refrigerant particulates and surrounding each end of said orifice tube so that refrigerant must pass through a particulate screen before entering either end of the orifice tube,a pair of substantially rigid, inner noise filters sized to fit coaxially within said particulate screens, one surrounding each end of said orifice tube and having a porosity sufficiently small and an axial length sufficiently large to substantially muffle said refrigerant expansion noise as said refrigeration outlet flow runs through it from either end of said orifice tube,whereby flowing refrigerant is sequentially particulate filtered and noise muffled, regardless of the orientation of said valve within the refrigerant line.
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Abstract
An automotive air conditioning system orifice tube type refrigerant expansion valve is axially symmetrical, so as to be error proof at installation, and/or so as to operate in a bi directional refrigerant flow. A pair of coaxial screens surrounding each end of the orifice tube, an inner noise attenuation screen of finer mesh, and an outer particulate screen of coarser mesh, provide upstream particulate exclusion and downstream noise attenuation without the potential for reverse installation. In addition, by pass ports allow for a by pass flow should the downstream inner screen become plugged.
29 Citations
3 Claims
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1. For use in a refrigerant line in an automotive air conditioning system in which the refrigerant carries particulate type contaminants, a bi directional refrigerant expansion valve with combined inlet particulate filter and valve outlet noise attenuation features, comprising:
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a central, cylindrical orifice tube to receive and contract high pressure refrigerant inlet flow and expand it into a low pressure outlet flow, thereby creating expansion noise; a substantially rigid central plug body adapted to be installed tightly sealed within the interior of said refrigerant line and also tightly sealed around the outside of said orifice tube with each end of said tube extending axially therefrom by the same distance, so that either end of said tube can provide an inlet and the other end an outlet, a pair of substantially rigid, outer particulate screens extending axially beyond each end of said orifice tube, each outer screen having a mesh just sufficiently small to exclude substantially all refrigerant particulates and surrounding each end of said orifice tube so that refrigerant must pass through a particulate screen before entering either end of the orifice tube, a pair of substantially rigid, inner noise filters sized to fit coaxially within said particulate screens, one surrounding each end of said orifice tube and having a porosity sufficiently small and an axial length sufficiently large to substantially muffle said refrigerant expansion noise as said refrigeration outlet flow runs through it from either end of said orifice tube, whereby flowing refrigerant is sequentially particulate filtered and noise muffled, regardless of the orientation of said valve within the refrigerant line.
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2. For use in a refrigerant line in an automotive air conditioning system in which the refrigerant carries particulate type contaminants, a bi directional refrigerant expansion valve with combined inlet particulate filter and valve outlet noise attenuation features, comprising:
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a central, cylindrical orifice tube to receive and contract high pressure refrigerant inlet flow and expand it into a low pressure outlet flow, thereby creating expansion noise; a substantially rigid central plug body adapted to be installed tightly sealed within the interior of said refrigerant line and also tightly sealed around the outside of said orifice tube with each end of said tube extending axially therefrom by the same distance, so that either end of said tube can provide an inlet and the other end an outlet, a pair of substantially rigid, open exterior support frames sized to fit within said refrigerant line, one abutted to each end of said plug and extending axially beyond and surrounding each end of said orifice tube, an outer particulate screen having a mesh just sufficiently small to exclude substantially all refrigerant particulates and closely contained within each support frame and also having a closed outer end and an inner end effectively sealed to an end of said plug body, so that refrigerant must pass through a particulate screen before entering either end of the orifice tube, thereby excluding particulates, a pair of substantially rigid, open inner support frames sized to fit coaxially within said particulate screens, one surrounding each end of said orifice tube with an inner radial space between said inner frame and orifice tube and outer radial space between said inner frame and outer particulate screen, an inner noise filter closely contained within each of said inner support frames having a porosity sufficiently small and an axial length sufficiently large to substantially muffle said refrigerant expansion noise as said refrigeration outlet flow runs through it, and further having a closed outer end and an inner end effectively sealed to an annular end ring of said inner support frame, so that refrigerant exiting either end of said orifice tube will pass through the noise filter, whereby flowing refrigerant is sequentially particulate filtered and noise muffled, regardless of the orientation of said valve within the refrigerant line.
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3. For use in a refrigerant line in an automotive air conditioning system in which the refrigerant carries particulate type contaminants, a bi directional refrigerant expansion valve with combined inlet particulate filter and valve outlet noise attenuation features, comprising:
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a central, cylindrical orifice tube to receive and contract high pressure refrigerant inlet flow and expand it into a low pressure outlet flow, thereby creating expansion noise; a substantially rigid central plug body adapted to be installed tightly sealed within the interior of said refrigerant line and also tightly sealed around the outside of said orifice tube with each end of said tube extending axially therefrom by the same distance, so that either end of said tube can provide an inlet and the other end an outlet, a pair of substantially rigid, open exterior support frames sized to fit within said refrigerant line, one abutted to each end of said plug and extending axially beyond and surrounding each end of said orifice tube, an outer particulate screen having a mesh just sufficiently small to exclude substantially all refrigerant particulates and closely contained within each support frame and also having a closed outer end and an inner end effectively sealed to an end of said plug body, so that refrigerant must pass through a particulate screen before entering either end of the orifice tube, thereby excluding particulates, a pair of substantially rigid, open inner support frames sized to fit coaxially within said particulate screens, one surrounding each end of said orifice tube with an inner radial space between said inner frame and orifice tube and outer radial space between said inner frame and outer particulate screen, each of said inner frames also having an annular end ring substantially abutted with an end of said plug, said end ring having at least one by pass flow port interconnecting said inner and outer radial spaces and located proximate to an end of said plug end and axially spaced from an end of said orifice tube, an inner noise filter closely contained within each of said inner support frames having a porosity sufficiently small and an axial length sufficiently large to substantially muffle said refrigerant expansion noise as said refrigeration outlet flow runs through it, and further having a closed outer end and an inner end effectively sealed to an annular end ring of said inner support frame, so that refrigerant exiting either end of said orifice tube will pass through the noise filter, unless the noise filter has been plugged sufficiently by smaller particulates that have passed the outer screen so as to force the refrigerant to flow axially in reverse and through the by pass port, whereby flowing refrigerant is sequentially particulate filtered and noise muffled, regardless of the orientation of said valve within the refrigerant line, with a potential by pass flow path available in the event of blockage of the downstream noise filter.
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Specification
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Current AssigneeGeneral Motors Corporation (Motors Liquidation Co. GUC Trust)
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Original AssigneeGeneral Motors Corporation (Motors Liquidation Co. GUC Trust)
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InventorsEckstein, Taylor R. Jr., Cummings, Larry Donald
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Primary Examiner(s)Tapolcai, William E.
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Application NumberUS09/106,197Time in Patent Office480 DaysField of Search62/296, 62/511, 62/527, 138/41, 138/44, 181/196, 181/210US Class Current62/296CPC Class CodesF25B 2500/12 SoundF25B 41/38 specially adapted for rever...
