JP2000111205A - Distributor and air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compact distributor and a compact air conditioner which are stable to the error in processing and installation by equalizing a refrigerant. SOLUTION: A distributor, which is provided with a pressure chamber 4 to one side of which an inflow pipe 2 to allow a refrigerant to flow in is connected and to the other side of which a plurality of outflow pipes 8 to allow a refrigerant to flow out is connected and which is led to the inflow pipe 2, and a refrigerant passage 5 smaller in sectional area than that of the outflow pipe 8 between the pressure chamber 4 and the outflow pipe 8, is equipped with a plurality of refrigerant passages 5 which so divide the refrigerant into plural as to be larger in number than the number of outflow pipes 8 from the pressure chamber 4 and are arranged in fan shape, a confluence and branch part 6 which joins each refrigerant passage 5 and then divides it further, and an outlet confluence part 7 which joins the refrigerant passages 5 branched by the confluence branch part 6 and leads them to each outlet pipe 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a distributor or a heat exchanger for diverting a refrigerant through a plurality of flow paths and an air conditioner using the same. It is suitable for those that stabilize.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an air conditioner, it is known that the diameter of a heat transfer tube is reduced and the number of passes of a heat exchanger is increased in order to improve efficiency and reduce the amount of charged refrigerant. It is described in JP-A-7-294061.

[0003]

The prior art described above is easy to process, but the distribution characteristics of the refrigerant largely depend on the positional relationship between the pressure chamber and the refrigerant flow path. The distribution characteristics may become unstable with respect to the error. Furthermore, if the distributor is installed inclined with respect to the direction of gravity, the liquid phase and the gas phase are separated in the pressure chamber, and the refrigerant is diverged unevenly. The performance of the harmony machine deteriorates.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to divide the amount of refrigerant evenly,
Another object of the present invention is to provide a distributor and an air conditioner that are stable against errors.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is directed to an inflow pipe through which a refrigerant flows, and a plurality of outflow pipes through which a refrigerant flows out is connected to the other, and is connected to the inflow pipe. And a refrigerant chamber having a cross-sectional area smaller than a cross-sectional area of the outflow pipe between the pressure chamber and the outflow pipe, wherein a refrigerant flows from the pressure chamber to the outflow pipe. Divided into a plurality such that the number is larger than the number of, the plurality of refrigerant flow channels arranged in a fan shape, a merging branch portion that merges each of the refrigerant flow channels and then further branches, and the merging branch portion An outlet merging portion that merges the branched refrigerant flow paths and communicates with each of the outlet pipes.

According to the present invention, it is preferable that the pressure chamber, the refrigerant flow path, the merging branch part and the outlet merging part are formed by a pair of plate members.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above-mentioned structure, the pressure chamber, the refrigerant flow path, the merging branch part and the outlet merging part are formed of a column or a cylindrical member having a conical shape on the inflow pipe side. Is desirable.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the refrigerant channel is formed in a mesh shape.

Further, the present invention relates to an air conditioner having a compressor, an expansion valve, a heat exchanger and a distributor for circulating a refrigerant. And a distribution chamber provided with a pressure chamber communicated with the inflow pipe, and a refrigerant flow path having a cross-sectional area smaller than a cross-sectional area of the outflow pipe between the pressure chamber and the outflow pipe. Device, the refrigerant is divided from the pressure chamber into a plurality of so that the number is larger than the number of the outflow pipes, a plurality of the refrigerant flow paths arranged in a fan shape, the respective refrigerant flow paths are merged Thereafter, it is provided with a merging branch portion that further branches, and an outlet merging portion that merges the refrigerant flow paths branched by the merging branch portion and communicates with the outlet pipes.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the distributor 3a. The distributor 3a includes a pair of plate-like members 301 and 302, an inflow pipe 2, a plurality of outflow pipes 8, and a cover 9. This figure shows a case where the number of outflow pipes 8 is four. A in FIG.
FIG. 1 shows a plan cross section of the distributor 3a indicated by -A, and FIG. 3 shows a cross section of the flow path indicated by BB. The member 301 includes a pressure chamber 4 connected to the inflow pipe 2 and a plurality of refrigerant passages 5 extending to the pressure chamber 4 and the outflow pipe 8, and the member 301 is formed by pressing a plate-shaped member.

The refrigerant flow path 5 is divided into a plurality of parts so as to have a number larger than the number of outflow pipes, and is arranged in a fan shape. The cross-sectional area of the flow path is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the outflow pipe 8. Further, the member 301 has two merging / branching portions that re-branch after the refrigerant flow paths 5 merge with each other, and four outlet branching portions that merge the two refrigerant flow paths 5 and connect to the outflow pipe 8. are doing. The pressure chamber 4 has a width L1 in the plate width direction of the member 301, and the outlet branch portion is arranged in a range of the width L2 which is wider than the width L1. The coolant flow path 5 is arranged in a fan shape about the pipe axis of the inflow pipe 2 immediately downstream of the pressure chamber.

In this embodiment, the refrigerant flowing from the inflow pipe 2 is diverted from the pressure chamber 4 to a plurality of refrigerant channels 5. Since the arrangement of the refrigerant flow path 5 is fan-shaped in this portion, the cross section of the flow path from the pressure chamber 4 to the refrigerant flow path 5 is smooth, and the refrigerant diffuses without being strongly deflected. For this reason, separation and eddies are suppressed,
A uniform initial branch is taken.

[0013] The initially branched refrigerant is merged at two merging / branching portions 6 located further downstream, and is branched again. Even when the refrigerant amount remains unbalanced in the initial branch, the refrigerant amount is exchanged and uniformed due to the collision at the merging branch 6. Further, the cross-sectional area of the coolant channel 5 is sufficiently smaller than the cross-sectional area of the outflow pipe 8. For this reason, the wall force or the wall force, which is the area force, becomes more dominant than the gravity force, which is the body force, and stable characteristics against installation errors (inclination with respect to the direction of gravity) are obtained.

Further, since the number of the refrigerant flow paths 5 is set to be larger than the number of the outflow pipes, the influence of a processing error at one place is relatively reduced, and the characteristics are statistically averaged and stable. Can be maintained. Furthermore, the distributor 3a can perform stable distribution without being affected by the installation angle or processing / assembly error.

In this embodiment, the cross section of the coolant channel 5 is rectangular, but may be a circle other than the rectangle, for example. Although the member 301 is provided with an internal shape, the same internal shape is used for the member 3.
02 may be provided. The number of junctions 6 may be further increased.

FIGS. 4 to 8 show a second embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the distributor 3b. In this example, the pressure chamber 4 and the coolant channel 5 are
The distributor 3a is configured by connecting the inflow pipe 2 and the plurality of outflow pipes 8 to a cylindrical member 302 in which a cylindrical member 301 is inscribed and a cover 9 is covered. Member 301
One end of the member 302 on the side connecting the inflow pipe 2 is formed in a conical shape.

FIG. 5 shows a cross section of the flow path of the distributor 3b shown by CC in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 shows a developed view of the cylindrical portion of the member 301. A plurality of refrigerant channels 5 having a rectangular cross section are provided in the member 301 in a mesh shape. For this reason, since a large number of junctions 6 are provided, the stability can be enhanced. Furthermore, since the member 301 is provided in a cylindrical shape, a centrifugal force acts on the refrigerant, and the structure becomes more resistant to installation errors.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the conical portion of the member 301, and the coolant passages 5 are provided radially around the apex of the conical portion of the member 301. The coolant channel 5 is arranged symmetrically with respect to the pipe axis of the inflow pipe 2. The refrigerant flow paths 5 symmetrical with respect to the central axis are arranged at a distance L2 at the outlet branch portion 6, and L2 is larger than the distance L1 which is the diameter of the pressure chamber. Therefore, without impairing the effect of centrifugal force,
The refrigerant can be diverted.

In this embodiment, a member 301 is formed into a plate-like member by forming a flow path by press working or the like, then processed into a roll shape, and the joint is welded. The member 301 may be formed into a cylindrical or columnar member by machining a flow path by cutting or the like, or may be integrally formed of resin as a material. Although the coolant flow paths 5 in the conical portion of the member 301 are arranged radially, it is also desirable to provide a merging branch 6 as shown in FIG. In this case, there is also an advantage that the member 301 is shortened and the distributor 3b is compact. If the drift in the inflow pipe 2 is small, the member 301 may be constituted only by the conical portion. Further, it is desirable to provide the pressure chamber 4 and the coolant channel 5 on the inner surface of the member 302 instead of the member 301.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of the distributor 3c, which is provided with an inflow pipe 2 perpendicular to the plate surface of the member 301.
FIG. 10 is a side sectional view of the distributor 3c. The refrigerant flowing from the inflow pipe 2 is uniformly deflected and flows into the refrigerant flow path 5. At this time, the liquid phase is separated to the member 301 side and the gas phase is separated to the member 302 side by centrifugal force. For this reason, a uniform branch can be performed so as to handle a single-phase flow.

This embodiment is advantageous in terms of cost because the number of processing steps performed on the members 301 and 302 is reduced. FIG.
It is also possible to apply a bending process to the inflow pipe 2 as shown in FIG.

Next, an air conditioner according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The arrows in FIG. 12 indicate the direction of circulation of the refrigerant. The solid line indicates the case where the room is heated, and the broken line indicates the case where the room is cooled. The air conditioner includes a compressor 10, an indoor heat exchanger 1a, an outdoor heat exchanger 1b, a distributor 3, an expansion valve 11, a refrigerant circuit 12, and a four-way valve 13. In order to use a plurality of outdoor heat exchangers 1b, the distributor 3 is installed in the middle of the refrigerant circuit 12. The distributor 3 eliminates the difference between the refrigerant flow rates of the outlet pipes 8, so that the capacity of the outdoor heat exchanger 1b can be used without loss, and the performance of the air conditioner can be improved. Further, since no extra refrigerant is required, it is desirable for saving refrigerant. Since the distributor 3 has high stability against installation errors, it is possible to effectively use the vacant space. Further, instead of the distributor 3, the interval between the paths on the side where the refrigerant flows in is narrow, and the path on the side where the refrigerant flows out is narrow. If a heat exchanger having a wide interval is used, the distribution of the liquid refrigerant is particularly equalized, and the capacity can be used effectively. Therefore, since the refrigerant is evenly distributed in a wide space, even if the arrangement interval of the heat transfer tubes is increased, the capacity does not decrease, so that the number of heat transfer tubes can be reduced and the heat transfer tubes can be arranged arbitrarily.

As an embodiment of the present invention, a distributor in an air conditioner including a compressor, a heat exchanger, a distributor, a refrigerant circuit, and the like has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to a refrigerator, a refrigerator, and the like. Needless to say.

[0024]

According to the present invention, since a plurality of refrigerant flow paths are arranged in a fan shape, the cross section of the flow path from the pressure chamber to the refrigerant flow path can be made smooth, and the refrigerant is not strongly deflected. Separation and eddies can be suppressed. Then, since the refrigerant is divided into a plurality of pieces from the pressure chamber so as to be larger than the number of the outflow pipes, the processing error is averaged, and further, each refrigerant flow path is merged, and then further branched, and the branched refrigerant is further divided. Since the flow paths are merged and communicated with the respective outflow pipes, a distributor and an air conditioner that can equalize even when the amount of refrigerant remains unbalanced in the initial branch can be obtained.

As described above, since stable distribution characteristics can be maintained, deterioration of the heat exchanger and the like due to non-uniform distribution of the refrigerant is suppressed, and high performance and compactness of the air conditioner can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a distributor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a flow channel according to the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a disassembled state of a distributor according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a flow channel according to another embodiment of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a development view showing a cylindrical portion of a member according to another embodiment of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a development view showing a conical portion of a member according to another embodiment of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of a conical portion of a member according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a distributor according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a side sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a side sectional view of a distributor according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram of an air conditioner according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Heat exchanger, 1a ... Indoor unit side heat exchanger, 1b ... Outdoor unit side heat exchanger, 2 ... Inflow pipe, 3 ... Distributor, 301 ... Member, 3
02 ... member, 4 ... pressure chamber, 5 ... refrigerant channel, 6 ... merging branch, 7 ... outlet merging, 8 ... outflow pipe, 9 ... cover, 1
0: compressor, 11: expansion valve, 12: refrigerant circuit, 13: four-way valve.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Shigeyuki Sasaki 502, Kachimachi, Tsuchiura-shi, Ibaraki Pref. Machinery Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd. Machinery Research Laboratory (72) Inventor Kunio Fujie 3-18-17 Minami Asaya, Suginami-ku, Tokyo

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An inflow pipe through which a refrigerant flows in is connected to one side, and a plurality of outflow pipes through which a refrigerant flows out is connected to the other side. In a distributor provided with a refrigerant flow path having a cross-sectional area smaller than the cross-sectional area of the outflow pipe, the refrigerant is divided into a plurality of pieces from the pressure chamber so as to have a number larger than the number of the outflow pipes. A plurality of the refrigerant flow paths arranged in the flow path, a merging branch part that merges the respective refrigerant flow paths and then further branches, and joins the refrigerant flow paths branched by the merging branch parts and communicates with the outlet pipes. And an outlet merging section. 2. The distributor according to claim 1, wherein said pressure chamber, said refrigerant flow path, said merging branch part and said outlet merging part are formed by a pair of plate members. 3. The pressure chamber according to claim 1, wherein the pressure chamber, the coolant flow path, the merging branch and the outlet merging are formed by a cylindrical or cylindrical member having a conical shape on the side of the inflow pipe. Distributor. 4. The distributor according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerant flow path is formed in a mesh. 5. An air conditioner having a compressor, an expansion valve, a heat exchanger and a distributor for circulating a refrigerant, wherein one of the plurality of outflow pipes is connected to an inflow pipe through which the refrigerant flows and the other outflows the refrigerant. A pressure chamber connected to the inflow pipe, and a refrigerant passage having a cross-sectional area smaller than a cross-sectional area of the outflow pipe between the pressure chamber and the outflow pipe. The refrigerant is divided into a plurality of refrigerants from the pressure chamber so as to have a number greater than the number of the outflow pipes, and the plurality of refrigerant flow paths arranged in a fan shape and the respective refrigerant flow paths are merged and then further branched. An air conditioner, comprising: a merging branch portion; and an outlet merging portion that merges the refrigerant flow paths branched by the merging branch portion and communicates with the outlet pipes.