JP2001165534A - Gas recovering trap container and method for installing air conditioner using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for installing an air conditioner capable of being easily carried out in a positive manner within a short period of time while restricting a bad influence against environment. SOLUTION: This recovery trap container for carbonic acid gas used in installing an air conditioner in which an outdoor machine sealing refrigerant gas within a compressor or an outdoor heat exchanger is connected with an indoor machine for causing the inside of the indoor heat exchanger to be released into surrounding atmosphere, the air in the indoor heat exchanger is replaced with carbonic acid gas and thereafter the carbonic acid gas is recovered and trapped. A carbonic acid gas container is arranged inside the container and the carbonic acid gas trap agent is filled around the carbonic acid gas container.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for constructing an air conditioner for connecting an indoor unit and an outdoor unit by a connection pipe, and a gas recovery trap container used for the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A refrigeration cycle used in an air conditioner is configured by connecting a refrigerant flow control unit having an expansion mechanism such as a compressor, a heat exchanger, a cab tube or an expansion valve by a pipe such as a copper pipe. And a fluid filled in the refrigeration cycle, such as a refrigerant and a lubricating oil composition. In a separate type air conditioner, an outdoor unit having a compressor and a heat exchanger and an indoor unit having a heat exchanger installed at a location where refrigeration and air conditioning are performed are connected by a connection pipe such as a copper pipe. Is done. In such a refrigeration cycle, the outdoor unit is filled with a part or all of the refrigerant and the lubricating oil composition in advance, the valve of the outdoor unit is closed, and the refrigeration is connected to the indoor unit using a connection pipe during construction. It is common to form a cycle.

[0003] By simply connecting the pipes in this manner, air remains in the indoor unit and the connection pipe. In order to remove this air, a vacuum pump is connected to the refrigerant charge boat provided on the valve of the outdoor unit, and after removing the air, the valve is opened and the indoor unit and the outdoor unit are connected to form a refrigeration system. Had been taken.

A simple construction method is to open a valve of the outdoor unit at the time of construction to allow the refrigerant in the outdoor unit to flow to the connection pipe and the indoor unit, and to provide a refrigerant charge port provided in a valve of another outdoor unit. Alternatively, the operation of replacing the gas in the indoor unit and the connection pipe by discharging the refrigerant containing air from the gap formed by relaxing the connection of the connection boat with the valve has been performed.

[0005] In contrast to these methods, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-70953 discloses that after replacing the inside of a refrigeration cycle with oxygen,
A method of manufacturing a refrigeration cycle that does not use a vacuum pump by filling a refrigerant and fixing oxygen with an oxygen fixing agent provided in the refrigeration cycle is disclosed.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-159004, one of a quasi-compressor and an evaporator or a quasi-compressor of an expansion mechanism such as a refrigerating compressor, a condenser, a capillary tube or an expansion valve and an evaporator. In a separate type air conditioner in which one of the heat exchanger or evaporator and the expansion mechanism is separated and connected by piping, moisture in the air
It discloses a method of enclosing a substance capable of absorbing two or more of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and the like.

[0007] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-269994 discloses a refrigeration cycle in which an oxygen absorbent is provided in a refrigerant circulation system.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-292168 discloses a method of removing air from a pipe and an indoor unit by disposing an air absorbent, and encapsulating carbon dioxide in the pipe and the indoor unit. A method of absorbing carbon dioxide in the machine and creating a vacuum is disclosed.

[0009]

The air remaining in the refrigeration cycle must be removed as a non-condensable gas, since the refrigeration capacity is reduced and oxygen and moisture promote deterioration of refrigeration oil and iron inside the refrigeration cycle. There is a need.

Among the methods described in the prior art, the method of evacuating with a vacuum pump is general, but a power source must be available to operate the vacuum pump at a construction site. It was hard to use and could not be called a simple method.

In addition, the method of replacing air with a refrigerant is unavoidable in terms of global warming from the viewpoint of the global environment, since the release of CFCs, which is a refrigerant, to the atmosphere cannot be avoided.

[0012] Further, the method of once replacing the air in the indoor heat exchanger or the connection pipe with the replacement gas and then recovering and trapping the replacement gas is described in a simple and reliable apparatus for collecting and trapping the replacement gas. Has not been proposed.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for constructing an air conditioner capable of easily recovering and trapping the replacement gas after the air in the indoor heat exchanger or the connection pipe is once replaced with the replacement gas, and the method of the present invention. An object of the present invention is to provide a replacement gas recovery trap container to be used.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an outdoor unit in which a refrigerant gas is sealed in a compressor or an outdoor heat exchanger, and an indoor unit in which an indoor heat exchanger is opened to the atmosphere. Gas trap for use in the construction of an air conditioner that connects the air conditioner with a connecting pipe, replaces air in the indoor heat exchanger with carbon dioxide gas, and then collects and traps the carbon dioxide gas through a connection jig. A carbon dioxide gas recovery trap container, wherein a carbon dioxide gas container is disposed inside the container, and a carbon dioxide gas trapping agent is filled around the carbon dioxide gas container.

Thus, when the carbon dioxide gas is discharged from the container main body, the container main body is cooled by heat of vaporization due to gasification from liquefied carbon dioxide. Next, when the container is connected to the side filled with the carbon dioxide trapping agent, the carbon dioxide trapping agent is sufficiently cooled, so that the trapping of the carbon dioxide gas can be performed quickly and efficiently.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention according to claim 1 for solving the above-mentioned problems is achieved by connecting an outdoor unit and an indoor unit having an indoor heat exchanger open to the atmosphere by connecting pipes. A gas recovery trap container for replacing an air in the heat exchanger with a gas, and thereafter performing an air conditioner for collecting and trapping the gas through a connection jig, wherein a gas container is disposed inside the container. A gas recovery trap container, wherein a gas trap agent is filled around the gas container.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there are provided two chambers provided by combining containers of different sizes, wherein the inside of the two chambers is filled with the gas, and the outside is filled with the gas trapping agent. It is a trap container for collecting gas.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the recovery trap container main body includes two bases, and each of the bases has a valve core urged to the outside inside the base and a valve seat closed by the valve core. This is a gas recovery trap container provided with an insect valve.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an air conditioner configured by connecting an indoor unit and an outdoor unit to each other by a connecting pipe, in a gas filling side of the collection trap container body via a connection fitting during installation work. After introducing the gas into the indoor unit and the connection pipe from the above, and replacing the air in the indoor unit and the connection pipe with the gas, the recovery trap container body is once removed from the connection fitting, and then the gas trap agent is filled therein. This is a construction method of an air conditioner for reconnecting to a side that can communicate with a connected portion via a connection fitting to collect gas in an indoor unit and a connection pipe with a gas trap agent.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gas recovery trap container wherein the gas is carbon dioxide.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are block diagrams of a refrigerating cycle of an air conditioner used in the embodiment. FIG. 1 shows a state in which a carbon dioxide gas side of a collection trap container having a carbon dioxide gas cylinder is connected, and FIG. The state where the collection trap agent side of the collection trap container with a built-in carbon dioxide gas cylinder is connected is shown.

First, the overall configuration of a refrigeration cycle constituting an air conditioner will be described with reference to FIGS.

The refrigerating cycle includes a compressor 1, a four-way valve 2, an outdoor heat exchanger 3, an expansion device 4, a dryer 5, and an indoor heat exchanger 6. The compressor 1, the four-way valve 2, the outdoor heat exchanger 3, the expansion device 4, and the dryer 5
, And the indoor heat exchanger 6 is disposed in the outdoor unit B.

The outdoor unit A is provided with a liquid side two-way valve 7 and a gas side three-way valve 8. The connection pipes 9 and 10 for connecting the outdoor unit A and the indoor unit B are respectively a liquid side two-way valve 7 and a gas side 3
It is connected using a direction valve 8. The liquid side two-way valve 7 has a screw portion 7a, and by opening the screw portion 7a, the pipe on the outdoor unit A side and the connection pipe 7 are communicated. Further, the gas side three-way valve has a screw portion 8a and a service port portion 8b. By opening the screw portion 8a, the pipe on the outdoor unit A side and the connection pipe 10 are communicated.

As shown in FIG. 1, the service port portion 8b can be connected to the carbon dioxide gas side 11a of the collection trap container 11 by using a connection fitting A12, and as shown in FIG. 13, the collection trap agent side 11b of the collection trap container 11 can be connected. The collection trap container 11 with a built-in carbon dioxide gas cylinder can be connected to the connection pipe 10 by being connected to the connection fittings A 12 and B 13. The service port portion 8b has a valve core disposed therein, and is configured to be opened by pressing the valve core from the outside to the inside. The valve core is configured to be closed when pressed against the seat by the elastic body.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a recovery trap container with a built-in carbon dioxide gas cylinder according to the first embodiment.

The recovery trap container 11 is divided into two chambers, a part to be a carbon dioxide gas container 14 and a part to be filled with zeolite 15 consisting of a spherical body inside a copper container body. The zeolite 15 is composed of zeolite having a diameter of 6 to 8 mesh. Further, inside the collection trap container 11, a mesh 16 for separating the zeolite 15 from the entrance 11b is provided. The mesh 16 is provided in order to prevent the dust from getting into the valve core during the operation for reuse even when the zeolite 15 is dispersed inside. In this embodiment, the mesh opening is 15
The mesh was set to 0 mesh and 100 g of zeolite was charged in total. The valve cores 17 and 18 are respectively connected to the communication port 11.
a, 11b. The structure of the valve core itself is the same as that provided in the service port portion 8b, and a valve core having the same structure is provided also on the carbon dioxide gas cylinder container 14 side. The zeolite was gradually heated and held for 2 hours while reducing the pressure to 350 ° C. with a vacuum pump. After cooling to room temperature, the container was quickly filled into a container 11 whose inside was replaced with nitrogen gas, and the base into which the valve core was inserted was sealed by coating with an epoxy resin. Thereafter, the trap container side filled with zeolite was pulled at 25 ° C. for 1 minute with a vacuum pump, and the inside was adjusted to 2 mmHg. At this time, the volume of the clearance space inside the trap container filled with zeolite was 20 cc.

Next, a method of installing the above-described air conditioner will be described.

In the state before construction, refrigerant gas is filled in the piping on the outdoor unit A side, such as in the compressor 1 and the indoor heat exchanger 3. At this time, the outdoor unit A is filled with a purging refrigerant gas in addition to the operating refrigerant gas necessary for operation. On the other hand, the pipes on the indoor unit B side, such as the indoor heat exchanger 6, and the connection pipes 9, 10 are not particularly sealed, but are open to the atmosphere.

First, a connection pipe 9 connects the outdoor unit A and the indoor unit B,
Connect at 10. At this time, the screw portion 7a of the liquid-side two-way valve and the screw portion 8a of the gas-side three-way valve 8 are closed. Then, after attaching the carbon dioxide gas cylinder side 11a of the collection trap container 11 containing a carbon dioxide gas cylinder to the service port portion 8b of the gas side three-way valve 8 of the outdoor unit A, the flare portion of the liquid side two-way valve 7 is slightly loosened. Let By pressing the collection trap container 11 against the connection fitting A12 while rotating, the carbon dioxide gas inside the carbon dioxide gas cylinder is introduced into the connection pipe 10 and the indoor unit B. The air inside the connection pipe 10 and the inside of the indoor unit B is released to the atmosphere together with the introduced carbon dioxide from the loosened portion of the flare portion of the liquid side two-way valve 7.

At this time, the flare portion of the liquid-side two-way valve 7 is firmly closed with the connection pipe 10 and the interior of the indoor unit B almost returned to normal pressure.

Next, the connection fitting A 12 is removed from the service port section 8 together with the collection trap container 11. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the zeolite-filled side 11b of the collection trap container 11 is attached to the service part 8b via the connection fitting B13. At this time, connection fitting B 13
Has an internal volume of 3 cc and is open to the atmosphere until it communicates with the zeolite portion of the trap container 11. This is performed by pressing the connection container B13 while rotating the trap container 11.

With this attachment, the zeolite portion of the collection trap container 11A communicates with the connection pipe 10, so that the carbon dioxide in the connection pipe 10 is released from the service port 8
b is introduced into the trap container 11 through the internal passage of the connection fitting B13. That is, the inside of the trap container 11 attempts to return to almost normal pressure due to the communication, and at this time, the air occupying the internal space of the connection fitting B13 is removed by the trap container 1.
1 is introduced into the trap container while being mixed and diffused with the carbon dioxide gas in the connection pipe 10 located through the air in the connection fitting B 13 by the suction effect due to the inside of the connection pipe being in a sufficiently negative pressure state. Is done. Therefore, the total space volume of the clearance provided in the trap container in a sufficiently negative pressure state triggers the suction effect. The carbon dioxide gas introduced into the container is physically adsorbed and collected by contact with the zeolite, and finally the connection pipes 9, 10 and the interior of the indoor unit B reach a sufficient negative pressure state.

After this state, the liquid side two-way valve 7
The connection pipes 9 and 10 and the interior of the indoor unit B side are brought into a positive pressure state (about 0.2 kgf / cm 2) by loosening the screw portion 7a slightly and introducing the refrigerant gas on the outdoor unit A side. Thereafter, the connection jig B13 is removed from the service port portion 8b together with the trap container 11, and the screw portion 7a of the liquid-side two-way valve 7 is completely opened again. Finally, by completely opening the screw portion 8a of the gas side three-way valve 8, the installation work related to the construction of the air conditioner is completed.

In the above installation work process, the connection fitting A12 connected to the carbon dioxide gas cylinder side and the connection fitting B13 connected to the zeolite filling section side are shown as separate connection fittings. This is because the introduction of carbon dioxide gas is performed while adjusting the internal pressure to some extent, so that it is preferable to use a communication port that is smaller than the communication port required for the collection trap operation. However, in order to reduce the number of necessary parts, it is possible to share the work by carefully performing work operations. Further, the trap container 1 is connected to the service port 8b.
Before removing the connection fitting B 13 together with the
The refrigerant filled on the side is connected to the connection pipes 9 and 10 and the indoor unit B.
This is to prevent air from entering the inside of the connection pipe 10 from the outside during the last jig removal work despite the fact that the state is a negative pressure state. It is not necessary to introduce the refrigerant into the connection pipes 9 and 10 and the indoor unit B as long as the connection fitting B13 is designed so that it can be immediately removed from the service port section 8b.

The above construction was performed in a working atmosphere of 50 ° C. using the trap device 11A according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. In addition, the internal volume of the indoor unit B side pipe including the indoor heat exchanger 6 and the connection pipes 9 and 10 in the above embodiment was 1.5 liters.

As a result, after releasing the carbon dioxide gas from the container, the container body can be cooled to 10 ° C. or less, and quickly communicated with the collection trap side, so that the indoor unit B including the heat exchanger 6 can be cooled.
The inside of the side pipes and the connection pipes 9 and 10 could reach a sufficient negative pressure atmosphere (10 mmHg or less) in 3 minutes.

The collection trap container used in the installation work of the air conditioner can regenerate the adsorption characteristics of zeolite by reducing the pressure from the valve core with a vacuum pump, and the carbon dioxide gas cylinder side is filled with carbon dioxide newly from the valve core. Can be reused any number of times.
Therefore, the replacement gas and the collection trap container accompanying the installation work can be integrated and reused any number of times.

When carbon dioxide is physically adsorbed on zeolite, the temperature of the working atmosphere is 40
If the temperature exceeds ° C, it is difficult to finally obtain a sufficient negative pressure state, and it has been necessary to increase the amount of zeolite in order to cope with such conditions. However, the container body can be sufficiently cooled by evaporating the liquefied carbon dioxide gas, as in the present invention, for example, to 10 ° C. or lower, and the adsorption performance of the gas trapping agent is improved. Therefore, it is an effective tool when performing installation work under the scorching sun in summer. FIG. 4 shows the saturated adsorption characteristics of zeolite to carbon dioxide for reference. There is a clear difference between 10 ° C and 40 ° C,
It is understood that the adsorption capacity can be improved by cooling the container body.

In the embodiment, after the internal air is purged with carbon dioxide, the connection pipe and the interior of the indoor unit are returned to normal pressure and the next operation is performed. However, the operation can be performed while maintaining the positive pressure. At this time, the level of the required positive pressure may be slightly higher than the atmospheric pressure, and it is considered that the pressure is preferably 0.3 kgf / cm 2 or less. Thereby, when the inside of the container is communicated with the carbon dioxide trap side container, the carbon dioxide trap can be quickly performed by the positive convection effect of the gas. Further, as a similar effect, by setting the inside of the carbon dioxide trap container to a sufficiently negative pressure state, a gas convection effect from the connection pipe and the inside of the indoor unit to the inside of the carbon dioxide trap container can be obtained. To this end, by optimizing the clearance space volume in the container and the internal space volume of the connection jig, the replacement gas can be sucked to the recovery trap container side to some extent.

In the embodiment, 100 g of zeolite was used for the case where the inner volume of the indoor unit and the connection pipe was 1.5 liters.
g or more. As a result, carbon dioxide gas was collected in a short time, and a negative pressure state of a level of 10 to 30 mmHg could be obtained. There is no problem because there is too much zeolite, but if too much, the container for storing the trapping material is bulky and not preferable. On the other hand, if it is less than 60 g, the attainment and speed of the negative pressure become slow, and the object of the present invention cannot be achieved. Further, if water is adsorbed as a contaminant, the collection of carbon dioxide gas is hindered. Therefore, it is considered that about 60 to 100 g is practically preferable.

In the embodiment, the construction method of the outdoor unit having the usual two-way valve and three-way valve has been described.
It can also be applied to an outdoor unit equipped with a side valve. In the embodiment, two types of jigs are used for the two-way valve. However, in the present invention, the jig is formed in a T-branch shape to separate the carbon dioxide supply part and the carbon dioxide adsorption part from one connection part. It is also possible to do it.

In the embodiment, the case where the dryer is arranged in the outdoor unit main body is shown. In the air purging of the indoor unit and the connection pipe by the vacuum pump system, moisture present inside can be removed by operating the vacuum pump, but
In the purging method using the replacement gas as in the present invention, it is difficult to remove even moisture. Therefore, an air conditioner in which a dryer is arranged in a refrigeration cycle can easily guarantee long-term reliability.

Although carbon dioxide gas is used in the present embodiment, any gas may be used.

[0046]

As is apparent from the above embodiment, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the gas side of the recovery trap container is connected to discharge the liquefied gas, the container body is rapidly cooled. As a result, the next time it is connected to the gas trap agent side,
The gas trap agent exhibits gas adsorption characteristics sufficiently effectively, and can quickly bring the indoor unit and the connection pipe into a negative pressure state. According to the second aspect of the present invention, the space for filling the gas and the gas trapping agent can be appropriately secured by combining the substantially eggplant shapes, and the cooling effect by gas release can be uniformly transferred to the container body. In addition, since the base portion is almost in the opposite direction, errors in the work procedure can be reduced, and the installation can be performed efficiently.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since both the bases provided in the container are of the valve core type, the once used carbon dioxide cylinder and the gas trapping agent can be easily reused, thereby saving resources. It can be used.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the installation work of the air conditioner can be completed with only one recovery trap container without requiring a power supply. Further, since the recovery trap container body and the trapping agent can be cooled by the built-in gas cylinder, carbon dioxide gas can be trapped at once by a physical adsorption reaction or a chemical reaction. As a result, it is possible to achieve a sufficient negative pressure in the connection pipe and the inside of the indoor unit.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a refrigeration cycle of an air conditioner in which a carbon dioxide gas side of a collection trap container containing a carbon dioxide gas cylinder is connected.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a refrigeration cycle of an air conditioner in which a collection trap agent side of a collection trap container containing a carbon dioxide gas cylinder is connected.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram of a collection trap container having a built-in carbon dioxide gas cylinder used in the first embodiment according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a graph showing characteristics of a saturated adsorption capacity of zeolite to carbon dioxide.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Compressor 2 Four-way valve 3 Outdoor heat exchanger 4 Throttle device 5 Dryer 6 Indoor heat exchanger 7 Liquid-side two-way valve 8 Gas-side three-way valve 9 Connection piping 10 Connection piping 11 Recovery trap container with a built-in carbon dioxide gas cylinder 12 Connection Fitting A 13 Connection jig B 14 Carbon dioxide gas container 15 Zeolite 16 Mesh 17 Valve core 18 Valve core

Continuing on the front page (72) Eiji Nakakakuka 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Inside Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An outdoor unit and an indoor unit having an indoor heat exchanger open to the atmosphere are connected by a connecting pipe, and the air in the indoor heat exchanger is replaced with a gas. A gas recovery trap container for use in the construction of an air conditioner that collects and traps via a tool, wherein a gas container is disposed inside the container, and a gas trap agent is filled around the gas container. And a gas collection trap container. 2. The two chambers provided by combining containers having different sizes, wherein the inside of the two chambers is filled with the gas and the outside is filled with the gas trapping agent. The gas recovery trap container according to claim 1, wherein 3. The collecting trap container body is provided with two bases, and each of the bases is provided with an insect valve including a valve core urged outward and a valve seat closed by the valve core. The gas recovery trap container according to claim 1, wherein: 4. An air conditioner constructed by connecting an indoor unit and an outdoor unit to each other by a connection pipe, wherein gas is supplied from the gas filling side of the collection trap container body via a connection fitting during installation work. After introducing air into the connection pipe and replacing the air in the indoor unit and the connection pipe with gas, the collection trap container body is once removed from the connection fitting, and then can be communicated with the portion filled with the gas trap agent. A method for constructing an air conditioner, wherein the gas is trapped in a gas trapping agent by reconnecting the gas through the indoor unit and the connection pipe by reconnecting to the side via a connection fitting. 5. The gas recovery trap container according to claim 1, wherein said gas is carbon dioxide.