Air conditioner self-charging and charge monitoring system
First Claim
1. A method for determining a level of refrigerant charge in a vapor compression system including a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device and an evaporator operatively connected in serial relationship in a refrigerant flow circuit having a refrigerant, comprising:
- receiving information indicative of at least one of a compressor torque or compressor current;
determining a value for a degree of refrigerant subcooling for the system from the received information, wherein determining the value for the degree of refrigerant subcooling includes presetting at least one system variable prior to the determining of the value for the degree of subcooling, wherein the presetting of the at least one system variable further comprises controlling a first speed of an evaporator fan associated with the evaporator, a second speed of a condenser fan associated with the condenser, and controlling a compressor speed of the compressor; and
determining whether the refrigerant charge is within a defined tolerance or whether the refrigerant is to be added or recovered in response to the degree of refrigerant subcooling.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for determining a level of refrigerant charge in a vapor compression system having a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device and an evaporator operatively connected in serial relationship in a refrigerant flow circuit having a refrigerant, includes receiving information indicative of at least one of a compressor torque or compressor current; and determining whether the refrigerant charge is within a defined tolerance or whether the refrigerant is to be added or recovered in response to the receiving of the information.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for determining a level of refrigerant charge in a vapor compression system including a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device and an evaporator operatively connected in serial relationship in a refrigerant flow circuit having a refrigerant, comprising:
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receiving information indicative of at least one of a compressor torque or compressor current; determining a value for a degree of refrigerant subcooling for the system from the received information, wherein determining the value for the degree of refrigerant subcooling includes presetting at least one system variable prior to the determining of the value for the degree of subcooling, wherein the presetting of the at least one system variable further comprises controlling a first speed of an evaporator fan associated with the evaporator, a second speed of a condenser fan associated with the condenser, and controlling a compressor speed of the compressor; and determining whether the refrigerant charge is within a defined tolerance or whether the refrigerant is to be added or recovered in response to the degree of refrigerant subcooling. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for determining a level of refrigerant charge in a vapor compression system including a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device and an evaporator operatively connected in serial relationship in a refrigerant flow circuit having a refrigerant, comprising:
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receiving information indicative of at least one of a compressor torque or compressor current; determining a value for a degree of refrigerant subcooling for the system from the received information, wherein determining the value for the degree of refrigerant subcooling includes presetting at least one system variable prior to the determining of the value for the degree of subcooling, wherein the presetting of the at least one system variable further comprises controlling a first speed of an evaporator fan associated with the evaporator, a second speed of a condenser fan associated with the condenser, and controlling a compressor speed of the compressor; and determining whether the refrigerant charge is within a defined tolerance or whether the refrigerant is to be added or recovered in response to the degree of refrigerant subcooling; comparing the value for the degree of refrigerant subcooling with a target degree of refrigerant subcooling; outputting an electrical signal indicative of the real-time value for the degree of refrigerant subcooling present; updating an average value of the degree of refrigerant subcooling for a preselected time period of system operation by discarding a stored degree of refrigerant subcooling and using the real-time value for the degree of refrigerant subcooling present to calculate an updated average value of the degree of refrigerant subcooling; outputting the level of the refrigerant charge for the preselected time period of system operation; and automatically carrying out at least one of adding the refrigerant to the system and recovering the refrigerant from the system based on a comparison of the degree of refrigerant subcooling with a target degree of subcooling. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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19. A method for determining a level of refrigerant charge in a vapor compression system including a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device and an evaporator operatively connected in serial relationship in a refrigerant flow circuit having a refrigerant, comprising:
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receiving information indicative of at least one of a compressor torque or compressor current; determining a value for a degree of refrigerant subcooling for the system from the received information, wherein determining the value for the degree of refrigerant subcooling includes presetting at least one system variable prior to the determining of the value for the degree of subcooling, wherein the presetting of the at least one system variable further comprises controlling at least one of a first speed of an evaporator fan associated with the evaporator, a second speed of a condenser fan associated with the condenser, and controlling a compressor speed of the compressor, wherein determining the value for the degree of refrigerant subcooling based on at least the compressor torque; and determining whether the refrigerant charge is within a defined tolerance or whether the refrigerant is to be added or recovered in response to the degree of refrigerant subcooling; comparing the value for the degree of refrigerant subcooling with a target degree of refrigerant subcooling; outputting an electrical signal indicative of the real-time value for the degree of refrigerant subcooling present; updating an average value of the degree of refrigerant subcooling for a preselected time period of system operation by discarding a stored degree of refrigerant subcooling and using the real-time value for the degree of refrigerant subcooling present to calculate an updated average value of the degree of refrigerant subcooling; outputting the level of the refrigerant charge for the preselected time period of system operation; and automatically carrying out at least one of adding the refrigerant to the system and recovering the refrigerant from the system based on a comparison of the degree of refrigerant subcooling with a target degree of subcooling.
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30. A method for determining a level of refrigerant charge in a vapor compression system including a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device and an evaporator operatively connected in serial relationship in a refrigerant flow circuit having a refrigerant, comprising:
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receiving information indicative of a compressor torque; determining a value for a degree of refrigerant subcooling for the system from the compressor torque, wherein determining the value for the degree of refrigerant subcooling includes presetting at least one system variable prior to the determining of the value for the degree of subcooling, wherein the presetting of the at least one system variable further comprises controlling at least one of a first speed of an evaporator fan associated with the evaporator, a second speed of a condenser fan associated with the condenser, and controlling a compressor speed of the compressor; and determining whether the refrigerant charge is within a defined tolerance or whether the refrigerant is to be added or recovered in response to the degree of refrigerant subcooling.
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Specification