JP2002031375A - Refrigeration unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent refrigerant leaks from a refrigeration unit from accumulating at the bottom of a casing 30 of an outdoor unit 10 and ignited, even if a pin hole is present in piping or the like of the refrigeration unit using a flammable refrigerant, such as HC290 or the like. SOLUTION: Ignition of the refrigerant at activation of an overload relay is suppressed by circulating the flammable refrigerant in a refrigeration cycle, housing a horizontal compressor in a single casing and attaching the overload relay, made of a bimetal or the like above the compressor.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerating apparatus that avoids the danger of igniting, for example, a flammable refrigerant such as HC290 leaking from a pipe.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, refrigeration systems have been used in various fields. For example, in an air conditioner, an outdoor unit having a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, a fan, etc., which is disposed outdoors, is connected to an indoor heat exchange unit. And an indoor unit provided in the room with the container.

[0003] An outdoor unit / housing for accommodating a heavy compressor as well as an air conditioner is usually reinforced using a reinforcing plate.
As a result, the periphery of the compressor was configured as a substantially closed space.

In such a refrigeration system, a so-called specific Freon gas containing chlorine such as R-22 has been used as a refrigerant. However, it has been found that this specific Freon gas causes the ozone layer destruction and has been regulated.

Accordingly, HFC32 and HFC125 have been proposed as refrigerants in place of the specified Freon gas. However, since the global warming potential of this refrigerant is not much different from that of the specified Freon gas,
In recent years, the use of a flammable refrigerant such as HC290 (propane) having a small global warming coefficient has been studied. In the present specification, the refrigerant refers to the above-described flammable refrigerant unless otherwise specified.

[0006]

However, since such a refrigerant is highly flammable and the compressor is disposed in a closed space, for example, if there is a leak path such as a pinhole in the refrigerant pipe, Refrigerant leaked from this leak path is stored in the enclosed space where the compressor is arranged, and it is pointed out that the flammable refrigerant may be ignited by a spark generated by the operation of an overload relay made of bimetal or the like attached to the compressor, for example. Have been.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a refrigeration apparatus capable of suppressing the risk of ignition even if refrigerant leaks.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a refrigeration apparatus according to the present invention is a refrigeration apparatus having a refrigeration cycle including at least a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, a decompressor, and an indoor heat exchanger. A flammable refrigerant is circulated in the refrigeration cycle, and the compressor is of a horizontal type, is housed in a single housing, and has an overload relay made of bimetal or the like above the compressor.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram (refrigeration cycle) of a refrigeration apparatus using the air conditioner according to the present embodiment as an example.

This refrigerating apparatus has an outdoor unit 10 disposed outdoors and an indoor unit 20 disposed indoors, and a flammable refrigerant, which is also a natural refrigerant such as HC290, circulates in these units. .

The outdoor unit 10 includes a horizontal compressor 11 for compressing the refrigerant, an outdoor heat exchanger 12 for exchanging heat between the outside air blown by the outdoor unit fan 15 and the refrigerant, and a decompressor 13 for reducing or reducing the refrigerant. Etc.

The indoor unit 20 includes an indoor heat exchanger 21 for exchanging heat between the indoor air blown by the indoor unit fan 22 and the refrigerant.

The outdoor unit 10 has a housing 30 as shown in FIG.
A reinforcing plate 31 for reinforcing the strength of the outdoor unit 10, a base 32 on which the compressor 11 provided on the upper side of the outdoor unit 10 is mounted, and the like. A plurality of through holes 34 are also provided in the housing 30.

Thus, even if the refrigerant leaks from a pipe or the like in the outdoor unit 10, the refrigerant does not accumulate at the bottom of the casing 30, and even if the refrigerant accumulates, the compressor 11
Is disposed in the upper part of the housing 30, so that it can be separated from the ignition point of the overload relay 35 and the like mounted on the upper side of the compressor 11. Therefore, even if the overload relay 35 is activated and a spark is generated, the risk that the leaked refrigerant is ignited is reduced.

When performing the cooling operation with such a configuration,
When the refrigerant circulates sequentially through the compressor 11, the outdoor heat exchanger 12, the decompressor 13, and the indoor heat exchanger 21 to switch the four-way valve 14 so as to form a refrigeration cycle (solid arrow), the refrigerant is used for heating operation. Switches the four-way valve 14 so as to sequentially circulate through the compressor 11, the indoor heat exchanger 21, the pressure reducer 13, and the outdoor heat exchanger 12 to form a heat pump cycle (dotted arrow).

During the cooling operation, the refrigerant which has been compressed by the compressor 11 to have a high temperature and a high pressure is supplied to the outdoor heat exchanger 12 to exchange heat with the outside air. At this time, the outdoor heat exchanger 12
Acts as a condenser, and the refrigerant condenses by heat exchange at that time.

Thereafter, the refrigerant is supplied to the decompressor 13 to be liquefied by being decompressed, and supplied to the indoor heat exchanger 21 to exchange heat with the indoor air. At this time, the indoor heat exchanger 2
Numeral 1 functions as an evaporator, and the refrigerant evaporates and takes heat of evaporation from the air, so that the room air is cooled and the room is cooled.
After that, the refrigerant returns to the compressor 11 and goes around the refrigeration cycle.

On the other hand, during the heating operation, the refrigerant which has been compressed by the compressor 11 to have a high temperature and a high pressure is supplied to the indoor heat exchanger 21. At this time, the indoor heat exchanger 21 acts as a condenser, whereby the refrigerant exchanges heat with the indoor air, and the condensing heat at that time is given to the indoor air to perform heating.

The condensed refrigerant is decompressed by the decompressor 13 and supplied to the outdoor heat exchanger 12. At this time, the outdoor heat exchanger 12 acts as an evaporator, so that the refrigerant evaporates by removing heat of evaporation from the outside air. Thereafter, the refrigerant returns to the compressor 11 and makes one cycle of the heat pump cycle.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view showing the structure of the outdoor unit 100. As can be seen from the figure, a reinforcing plate 102 is provided inside the outdoor unit 100. This is because the housing 101 is a box formed of an iron plate or the like, and the strength alone is low, and the strength may not be sufficient to accommodate the heavy-weight horizontal compressor 111 or the like.

The reinforcing plate 102 divides the casing 101 of the outdoor unit 100 into a substantially closed space 103 and an open space 104 communicating with the outside air, and the compressor 111 is disposed on the closed space 103 side. , The generation of rust is suppressed, and an outdoor heat exchanger, a fan 105 and the like are provided on the open space 104 side.

The compressor 111 is provided on the bottom side of the housing 101 so as to lower the center of gravity of the outdoor unit 100.

Even in the case of such a configuration, even if the flammable refrigerant accumulates in the closed space, the overload relay 112 is mounted on the upper side of the compressor 111 in the same manner as described above. The ignition of the combustible refrigerant can be suppressed.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, even if flammable refrigerant is circulated in the refrigeration cycle, the compressor is of a horizontal type and is housed in a single housing and is located on the upper side of the compressor. An overload relay made of bimetal, etc., is attached to the housing so that even if leaked refrigerant accumulates in the bottom of the housing, the refrigerant can be separated from the ignition point, preventing the refrigerant from igniting during overload operation Is what you can do.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a refrigeration apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an outdoor unit.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 outdoor unit 11 compressor 12 outdoor heat exchanger 13 pressure reducer 20 indoor unit 21 indoor heat exchanger 30 case of outdoor unit 32 base 33, 34 through hole 35 overload relay

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A refrigerating apparatus having a refrigerating cycle comprising at least a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, a decompressor, and an indoor heat exchanger, wherein a flammable refrigerant is circulated through the refrigerating cycle, and A refrigerating apparatus characterized in that it is housed in a single casing using a horizontal type, and an overload relay made of bimetal or the like is attached above the compressor.