JP2003113950A - Four way selector valve - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a four-way selector valve capable of reducing installation space and cost by integrating a pressure sensor. SOLUTION: The pressure sensor 110 is embedded in a body constructing a main body block of the four-way selector valve 102. The pressure sensor 110 is attached in such a manner that a pressure sensitive part thereof receives pressure of refrigerant via a hole communicating to a port introducing high- pressure refrigerant from a compressor to detect pressure of refrigerant discharged from the compressor. Consequently, a space for installing the pressure sensor 110 is not required and cost of a cooling and heating device can be reduced by integrating the pressure sensor 110 onto the four-way selector valve 102.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a four-way switching valve used in a heat pump type refrigeration cycle, and more particularly to a four-way switching valve having a built-in pressure sensor for detecting the pressure of a refrigerant passing through it. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a vehicle air conditioner, a refrigerating cycle is used for cooling operation, and engine cooling water is used as a heat source for heating operation. However,
In recent years, since the combustion efficiency of the engine has been improved, the temperature of the cooling water in the heat source for heating has not increased, and it has become impossible to obtain a sufficient heating temperature in winter. Therefore, there is an increasing need for a system that can be heated together with cooling. In such an air conditioning system, it is necessary to reverse the flow direction of the refrigerant flowing through the indoor heat exchanger and the outdoor heat exchanger between the cooling operation and the heating operation, but the refrigerant flow is switched in four directions. It is a switching valve.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a system configuration of an air conditioner using a four-way switching valve. The air conditioner includes a compressor 101, a four-way switching valve 102, an outdoor heat exchanger 103.
, A decompression device 104, an indoor heat exchanger 105, and an accumulator 106, which are connected as shown. The four-way switching valve 102 has four ports A to D. Port A of the four-way switching valve 102 is connected to the discharge side of the compressor 101, port B is connected to the outdoor heat exchanger 103, port C is connected to the indoor heat exchanger 105, and port D is It is connected to the accumulator 106. The four-way switching valve 102 has ports A and B.
Is in communication with port C and port D is in communication with
It is possible to switch between a state in which the port A and the port C communicate with each other and a state in which the port B and the port D communicate with each other.

During the cooling operation, as shown by the solid line, the refrigerant introduced from the compressor 101 to the port A is discharged to the port B and sent to the outdoor heat exchanger 103. The high temperature and high pressure refrigerant is heat-exchanged and condensed here, and the decompression device 10
Adiabatically expanded at 4 to become a low-temperature, low-pressure refrigerant and sent to the indoor heat exchanger 105. In the indoor heat exchanger 105, heat is exchanged with warm air in the room to evaporate, and a refrigerant in a gas-liquid mixed state is introduced from the port C into the four-way switching valve 102. This refrigerant enters the accumulator 106 from the four-way switching valve 102 through the port D, and returns to the compressor 101 as a refrigerant separated into gas and liquid.

On the other hand, during heating operation, the four-way switching valve 102 communicates with the ports A and C, as shown by the broken line.
The ports B and D are switched to communicate with each other. Therefore, the high-temperature / high-pressure refrigerant compressed by the compressor 101 is sent from the four-way switching valve 102 to the indoor heat exchanger 105 where it is heat-exchanged to heat the cold air in the room.
The refrigerant condensed in the indoor heat exchanger 105 is the decompression device 10
4 is adiabatically expanded to a low temperature / low pressure, evaporated by heat exchange in the outdoor heat exchanger 103, and the four-way switching valve 102
The refrigerant in the gas-liquid mixed state is introduced from the port B of 1. This refrigerant enters the accumulator 106 from the four-way switching valve 102 through the port D, and becomes the refrigerant separated into gas and liquid, and is sent to the compressor 101.

By the way, in order to control the air conditioner,
It is necessary to detect the pressure of the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle,
A pressure sensor that detects pressure is often attached via a joint in the middle of the connecting pipe.

[0007]

However, in recent air-conditioning systems for automobiles, a plurality of functional parts are integrally formed in order to achieve downsizing and easy assembly. There has been a problem that the number of pipes has decreased, and the mounting location of the pressure sensor for detecting the pressure of the refrigerant has been limited.

An object of the present invention is to provide a four-way directional control valve in which a pressure sensor is integrated so that the mounting space and cost can be reduced.

[0009]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the fluid introduced from the first port is changed into the second fluid.
In the first state, in which the fluid introduced into the third port and the fluid introduced from the third port are introduced into the fourth port, or the fluid introduced from the first port is introduced into the third port,
In the four-way switching valve that can be switched to select any one of the second states in which the fluid introduced from the port of 4 is led to the fourth port, the fluid is always introduced by being recessed in the body. A first mounting hole that communicates with the first port; and a first pressure sensor that is embedded in the first mounting hole and detects the pressure of a fluid introduced into the first port. A four-way switching valve is provided.

In the four-way switching valve of the present invention, the pressure sensor is directly attached to the body forming the body block of the four-way switching valve to detect the pressure of the refrigerant supplied from the compressor. As a result, the space for mounting the pressure sensor is unnecessary, and the cost of the cooling and heating device can be reduced.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings, taking as an example a case where the present invention is applied to a four-way switching valve integrated with an accumulator used in a heat pump type air conditioner. explain.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the appearance of the four-way switching valve according to the first embodiment, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the four-way switching valve according to the first embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan sectional view showing a section taken along the line XX of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view showing a section taken along the line YY of FIG.

In this heat pump type air conditioner, an accumulator 106 and a four-way switching valve 102 connected to a compressor (not shown) are integrally formed. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the four-way switching valve 102 includes a first passage a, a second passage b, a third passage c, and a fourth passage a in a body 1 forming a main body block. A passage d is formed.

The first passage a is a passage for exclusive use of high pressure, has a port A opening on the front side of the body 1 as shown in FIG. 1, and is connected to a refrigerant pipe on the output side of a compressor (not shown). To be done. A pressure sensor 11 for detecting the pressure of the high-pressure refrigerant passing through the first passage a is provided on the right side surface of the body 1.
0 is embedded. As shown in FIG. 2, the second passage b is provided with a port B opening on the upper surface side of the body 1, and is connected to a refrigerant pipe on the input side of an outdoor heat exchanger (not shown).
The third passage c also has a port C that opens to the upper surface side of the body 1.
And is connected to a refrigerant pipe on the output side of an indoor heat exchanger (not shown).

On the back side of the body 1, a three-way solenoid valve 17 for controlling the switching of the four-way switching valve 102 using a refrigerant.
Is provided. The port D of the fourth passage d is
It is a passage for exclusive use of low pressure, and as shown in FIG.
Is directly connected to the accumulator 106 on the lower surface side of the.

Inside the body 1 of the four-way switching valve 102, a three-way switching valve for switching the port B to communicate with the port A or port D and a three-way switching valve for switching the port C to communicate with the port A or port D. It is a combination of and. That is, two rows of cylinders are formed in the body 1, and the plug 2 and the piston 3, and the plug 4 and the piston 5 are arranged in parallel in the cylinder so as to be movable back and forth in the left-right direction in the drawing. Further, the openings of the two rows of cylinders are closed by caps 6 and 7, respectively, and a passage communicating with the first passage a is formed at the tip of each cylinder.

The pistons 3, 5 are caps 6, respectively.
Pressure regulating chambers 8 and 9 are formed between the pressure regulating chambers 7 and 7. Piston 3,
5, a shaft extending in the axial direction is integrally formed,
The tip of the plug is fitted into a hole formed in the plugs 2 and 4. In the plugs 2 and 4, the tip end portion facing the passage portion with the first passage a forms a pressure receiving surface having a smaller area than the pressure receiving surface of the pistons 3 and 5, and the front and rear surfaces in the axial direction of the plugs 2 and 4 are respectively valves. It functions as a body. Further, springs 10 and 11 are interposed between the plugs 2 and 4 and the tip of the cylinder, respectively. By biasing the plugs 2 and 4 to the left in the figure, the pistons 3 and 5 are capped. It works so as to press it in directions 6 and 7.

In each cylinder, annular projections 12 and 13 are formed integrally with the body 1 by caulking. The protrusion 12 constitutes a valve seat on which the valve element on the rear surface of the plug 2 is seated, and is provided at a boundary position between a chamber communicating with the port C of the cylinder and a portion communicating with the fourth passage d.
The protrusion 13 constitutes a valve seat on which the valve element on the rear surface of the plug 4 is seated, and is provided at a boundary position between a chamber communicating with the port B and a chamber communicating with the fourth passage d.

In the state shown in FIG. 3, the valve element on the front surface of the plug 2 is seated on the tip of the cylinder, and the valve element on the rear surface of the plug 2 is separated from the projection 12. As a result, the chamber communicating with the port C is blocked from the first passage a, and the port C is communicated with the fourth passage d via the cylinder. The valve body on the rear surface of one of the plugs 4 is seated on the valve seat formed by the protrusion 13, and the valve body on the front surface of the plug 4 is separated from the tip portion of the cylinder. As a result, the chamber communicating with the port B is cut off from the fourth passage d, and the port B is in communication with the first passage a via the cylinder.

The chamber of the cylinder which communicates with the port B is connected with the pressure regulating chamber 8 between the piston 3 and the cap 6 by the tube 14 led out from the rear surface of the body 1. . Further, a tube 15 extending to the outside of the body 1 is connected to the first passage a, the high-pressure refrigerant introduced from the port A is guided to the three-way solenoid valve 17 by the tube 15, and the body is provided in the fourth passage d. 1
A tube 16 extending to the outside is connected, and the low-pressure refrigerant discharged from the port D is guided to the three-way solenoid valve 17 by the tube 16. The three-way solenoid valve 17 is provided with a tube 18 extending to the cap 7, and by switching the solenoid valve, either the high-pressure or low-pressure refrigerant introduced to the three-way solenoid valve 17 is supplied to the piston 5 and the cap 7. It is arranged to be introduced into the pressure adjusting chamber 9 located between.

The pressure sensor 110 is composed of a diaphragm member which constitutes a pressure sensitive portion and a connector member for taking out a pressure signal detected by the pressure sensitive portion to the outside, and a container 110a having a gas introduction hole at its tip portion. The diaphragm member is housed and fixed to the connector member. The pressure sensor 110 is inserted into the mounting hole 21 formed on the right side surface of the body 1 so that the gas introduction hole of the container 110a is adjacent to the first passage a through which the high-pressure refrigerant gas flows. Refrigerant gas passes through the hole that connects the mounting hole 21 and the first passage a,
The pressure sensor 110 is introduced into the pressure-sensitive portion and detects the pressure of the refrigerant gas.

As shown in FIG. 4, the accumulator 106 has an opening 31 at the top thereof, and the four-way switching valve 10
2 connected to port D. When the gas-liquid mixed refrigerant is introduced through the opening 31, the liquid refrigerant drops and is stored in the bottom, and the gas refrigerant is sent to the compressor through the U-shaped pipe 32.

The operation of the four-way switching valve constructed as above will be described below. Now, in the three-way solenoid valve 17, the communication between the tube 18 and the tube 15 is cut off,
It is assumed that a non-energized state is selected such that the tube 18 is connected to the tube 16. As a result, the pressure adjusting chamber 9 communicates with the fourth passage d, which is a passage for low-pressure refrigerant gas, so that the pressure becomes low, and the high-pressure refrigerant supplied from the port A to the first passage a moves the plug 4 into the cylinder. When pushed, as shown in FIG. 3, the valve body on the rear surface of the plug 4 is moved to the left in the figure until it is seated on the annular protrusion 13 so that the first passage a and the second passage b communicate with each other. become.

When the second passage b communicates with the first passage a via the cylinder, the same high pressure state as in the first passage a is established, and at the same time, the other pressure adjusting chamber 8 also has the same passage via the tube 14. High pressure. Since the pressure receiving area of the piston 3 forming the pressure regulating chamber 8 is larger than that of the plug 2, the plug 2 is seated on the valve seat of the body 1 by the high pressure refrigerant introduced into the pressure regulating chamber 8 The passage c and the fourth passage d communicate with each other.

Thus, in the four-way switching valve, the port A communicates with the port B and the port C communicates with the port D, so that the high pressure refrigerant from the compressor is transferred from the port A to the port in the air conditioning system of the automobile. The operation mode of the cooling operation is switched to that in which the refrigerant is sent to the outdoor heat exchanger connected to B, and the refrigerant received at the port C from the indoor heat exchanger is sent back from the port D to the compressor.

Next, the three-way solenoid valve 17 is energized,
The communication between the tube 18 and the tube 16 is cut off, and the tube 18 is connected to the tube 15. As a result, high-pressure refrigerant is introduced into the pressure regulation chamber 9 and pushes the piston 5 back to the right. As a result, the plug 4 is seated on the valve seat of the body 1, and the second passage b and the fourth passage d are in communication with each other.

Since the second passage b communicates with the fourth passage d via the cylinder, the other pressure adjusting chamber 8 is moved to the tube 14
The high pressure refrigerant, which is decompressed via the port A and is supplied to the first passage a from the port A, pushes the plug 2 into the cylinder, and the valve body on the rear surface of the plug 2 is seated on the annular protrusion 12 in the leftward direction in the drawing. By being moved, the first passage a and the third passage c communicate with each other.

In this way, in the four-way switching valve, the port A communicates with the port C and the port B communicates with the port D, so that the cooling and heating system of the automobile enters the heating operation mode.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing the appearance of the four-way switching valve according to the second embodiment, FIG. 6 is a plan view of the four-way switching valve according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a cross section taken along line YY of FIG.

In these figures, the members corresponding to those described in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted here. The difference from the first embodiment is that a second pressure sensor 120 is embedded in the upper surface of the body 1 to detect the pressure of the low-pressure refrigerant passing through the fourth passage d. Pressure sensor 12
0 is inserted into an attachment hole 22 formed from above the body 1 in the upper part of the fourth passage d through which the low-pressure refrigerant gas flows. The refrigerant gas is introduced into the pressure-sensitive portion of the pressure sensor 120 through the hole that connects the mounting hole 22 and the fourth passage d, and detects the pressure of the refrigerant gas.

In this second embodiment, two pressure sensors 110 and 120 for high pressure and low pressure are attached, and not only the pressure of the high-pressure refrigerant but also the pressure of the low-pressure refrigerant can be detected. It has the advantage of being well controlled.

[0032]

As described above, according to the four-way switching valve of the present invention, the pressure sensor is directly built in the portion where the high pressure refrigerant always flows and the portion where the low pressure refrigerant always flows. As a result, the space for mounting the pressure sensor is unnecessary, and the cost of the cooling and heating device can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the outer appearance of a four-way switching valve according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the four-way switching valve according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan cross-sectional view showing a cross section taken along line XX of FIG.

4 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a cross section taken along the line YY of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing the outer appearance of the four-way switching valve according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a four-way switching valve according to a second embodiment.

7 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a cross section taken along the line YY of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a system configuration of an air conditioner using a four-way switching valve.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 body 2,4 plug 3,5 piston 6,7 cap 8, 9 Pressure regulation chamber 10,11 spring 12, 13 protrusion 14, 15, 16 tubes 17 Three-way solenoid valve 18 tubes 21,22 mounting holes 31 opening 32 U-tube 102 four-way switching valve 106 Accumulator 110,120 Pressure sensor

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. The fluid introduced from the first port is transferred to the second port.
In the first state, in which the fluid introduced into the third port and the fluid introduced from the third port are introduced into the fourth port, or the fluid introduced from the first port is introduced into the third port,
In the four-way switching valve that can be switched to select any one of the second states in which the fluid introduced from the port of 4 is drawn out to the fourth port, the fluid is always introduced by being recessed in the body. A first mounting hole that communicates with the first port; and a first pressure sensor that is embedded in the first mounting hole and detects the pressure of the fluid introduced into the first port. A four-way switching valve characterized by that. 2. A second mounting hole which is provided in a recess in the body and communicates with the fourth port through which fluid is always drawn out, and a second mounting hole which is embedded in the second mounting hole and which extends from the fourth port. The four-way switching valve according to claim 1, further comprising: a second pressure sensor that detects the pressure of the drawn fluid.