JP3204404B2 - Liquid receiver integrated condenser - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a condenser integrated with a receiver of a refrigeration system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional refrigeration cycle, since a condenser and a liquid receiver are separate from each other, there is a problem in pipe management and space saving. Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 2-103667 discloses a two-part compartment in which the interior of the header at the end of the condenser is vertically divided into two parts by a partition wall, and the two compartments are communicated by a through passage provided at one place of the partition wall. The branch on the outlet side (throttle communication side) is used as a receiver, and an outlet hole for sending out only the liquid from the receiver is provided.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional condenser integrated with a liquid receiver, the entire flow rate of the refrigerant in the gas-liquid two-phase is entirely poured into the liquid receiver. Here, it is assumed that the liquid receiver is in a state where the refrigerant liquid is stored to a relatively low liquid level. Then, when the refrigerant circulation amount is large, the strong refrigerant liquid flows into the receiver from the through passage, and therefore the low liquid level fluctuates or foams, and the refrigerant gas leaks from the outlet hole. I will.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a receiver-integrated condenser that suppresses fluctuations in the liquid level in the receiver and reduces leakage of undesired refrigerant gas from the receiver. The purpose is.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a condenser integrated with a receiver, comprising: an upstream condenser tube; a subcooling downstream condenser tube located below the upstream condenser tube; an inlet header fed the refrigerant gas to the condenser tube, and an outlet header receiving the refrigerant liquid from the downstream condenser tube, an intermediate header which communicates the two condenser tube, communicates possible gas-liquid flow in the intermediate header A lower part of the liquid receiver communicates with a lower part of the intermediate header through a lower communication hole, and an upper part of the liquid receiver communicates with an upper part of the intermediate header through an upper communication hole. The intermediate portion of the liquid receiver does not communicate with the intermediate header, and the intermediate portion of the intermediate header does not communicate with the liquid receiver.

A condenser integrated with a receiver according to a second aspect of the present invention comprises an upstream condenser tube, a subcooling downstream condenser tube located below the upstream condenser tube, and refrigerant gas in the upstream condenser tube. Header, an outlet header for receiving the refrigerant liquid from the downstream condenser tube, an intermediate header communicating the condenser tubes, and a gas-liquid separable receiver communicating with the intermediate header in a gas-liquid flowable manner. A liquid container, wherein a lower part of the liquid receiver and a lower part of the intermediate header communicate only through a lower communication hole.

[0007] The receiver may be housed inside the header,
It may be provided adjacent to the header. In the first invention, the fluid resistance of the lower communication hole is set such that the liquid level is formed in the receiver under normal operating conditions.

[0008]

In the condensers of the first and second aspects of the present invention, the refrigerant circulating flow (including a predetermined gas-liquid ratio and 100% liquid) flowing from the upstream condenser pipe to the intermediate header is included.
Flows into the downstream condenser tube, is again condensed or supercooled in the downstream condenser tube, and flows out to the throttle. The condenser of the first invention adopts a configuration in which the intermediate header and the liquid receiver are connected in parallel at their upper and lower ends (bypassed), and the fluid resistance of the upper communication hole and the lower communication hole is set to an appropriate value. Since the entire refrigerant circulating flow does not flow into the receiver that flows out of the upstream condenser tube, only a part of the refrigerant circulating flow flows. It is greatly reduced.

Further, since the condenser of the second invention adopts a configuration in which the intermediate header and the liquid receiver are communicated only at the lower portion thereof, the refrigerant circulates similarly into the liquid receiver flowing out of the upstream condenser tube. Since only a part of the stream flows in, the liquid level fluctuation inside the receiver is greatly reduced. Furthermore, in the condenser of the first invention and the second invention, since the intermediate header and the receiver are integrally formed, even if the gas component cannot flow into the receiver and bypasses the receiver, Since the gas is condensed in the downstream condenser tube, the gas component does not reach the restriction.

That is, in the first and second inventions, there is a case where the gas component cannot be captured by the receiver because the total refrigerant circulation amount does not pass through the receiver as in the prior art. It is possible to condense the gas component that could not be formed by the downstream condenser tube and send only the liquid component to the throttle. As a result, it is possible to prevent the liquid level of the receiver from fluctuating, and to achieve a gas receiver-integrated condenser with good gas-liquid separation without causing gas components to reach the throttle.

[0011]

(Embodiment 1) An embodiment of a condenser integrated with a liquid receiver according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. This apparatus includes an inlet / outlet header (an inlet header and an outlet header in the present invention) 1, an upstream condenser pipe 2, a downstream condenser pipe 3, an intermediate header 4, and a liquid receiver 5, and is adjacent to the condenser pipes 2, 3. Cooling fins 6 are provided.

The internal space of the entrance-side header 1 is divided into an upper space 12 and a lower space 13 by a separator 11 provided therebetween, and the upper space 12 is composed of a refrigerant inlet pipe 14 and an upstream condenser pipe. 2, the lower space 13 communicates with the refrigerant outflow pipe 15 and the downstream condenser pipe 3, and the other end of the upstream condenser pipe 2 communicates with the upper part and the central part of the intermediate header 4. The other end of the downstream condenser tube 3 communicates with the lower part of the intermediate header 4.

The intermediate header 4 and the liquid receiver 5 are integrally formed. The upper part of the intermediate header 4 communicates with the upper part of the liquid receiver 5 by the upper communication hole 71, and the lower part of the intermediate header 4 is the liquid receiver 5
Is communicated to the lower part of the body through a lower communication hole 81. Each of the intermediate header 4 and the receiver 5 is a vertical pipe 4
1 and 51, both ends of both tubes 41 and 51 are closed by caps 7 and 8, respectively, and are integrated. The upper communication hole 71 and the lower communication hole 81 are provided inside the caps 7 and 8.

The operation of the condenser integrated with a liquid receiver will be described. The superheated gas refrigerant discharged from the compressor (not shown) enters the upstream condenser pipe 2 from the inflow pipe 14, is condensed, and flows into the intermediate header 4 as a liquid refrigerant having no supercooling degree under normal refrigerant filling conditions. The liquid refrigerant flowing into the intermediate header 4 mainly falls to the lower part and flows into the lower inflow side condenser tube 3.
Further, a part of the refrigerant flowing into the intermediate header 4 flows into the upper part of the liquid receiver 5 through the upper communication hole 71. Liquid receiver 5
In this case, a gas-liquid surface is formed in a steady state, and only the surplus liquid refrigerant is stored.

On the other hand, in a transient state, for example, when the vehicle speed changes,
When the gas-liquid two-phase flow temporarily flows into the intermediate header 4, the gas-liquid two-phase flow is separated into gas and liquid by gravity, and the liquid component accumulates in the lower part of the receiver 5. The gaseous component flows into the receiver 5 from the upper part of the intermediate header 4 through the upper communication hole, and the refrigerant liquid is pushed out from the lower part of the receiver 5 to the lower part of the intermediate header 4 through the communication hole 81 by the amount of the inflow. , Flows into the downstream condenser tube 3 for supercooling.

As described above, the apparatus of this embodiment is
Since a part of the refrigerant flow is bypassed to flow into the receiver, the gas-liquid separation performance can be improved even at a high refrigerant flow rate at a high vehicle speed, for example. (Modification) FIGS. 2 to 5 show cross-sectional views of the modification.

In FIG. 2, three plates 91, 92, 9
3 are caulked and brazed to form straight pipes 41 and 51 for the intermediate header 4 and the liquid receiver 5. In FIG.
The ends of the two plates 94 and 95 are caulked and brazed to form a straight tube, and the inside of the plate 96 is further reduced by a plate 96.
One is used as the intermediate header 4 and the other is used as the liquid receiver 5.

In FIG. 4, the cross sections of the straight pipes 41 and 51 are each made into a semicircle, and are joined together. In FIG.
7 is divided into two parts by a plate 98, and one is used as the intermediate header 4 and the other is used as the liquid receiver 5. (Embodiment 2) Another embodiment of the condenser integrated with a receiver according to the present invention is shown in FIG.

This apparatus is different from the first embodiment in that the upstream-side condenser tube 2 is reversed and the downstream-side condenser tube 3 is reversed to the upper side in the first embodiment. Refrigerant circulating flow (including 100% liquid)
Flows upward in the intermediate header 4 and flows into the downstream condenser tube 3 for supercooling. In this embodiment, the intermediate header 4 and the liquid receiver 5 communicate with each other only through the lower communication hole 81 so as to allow gas-liquid flow.

A part of the refrigerant circulating flow that has flowed into the receiver 5 due to the momentum of the refrigerant circulating flow in the intermediate header 4
Gas and liquid are separated by gravity in the inside, and a gas component is unevenly distributed in an upper part and a liquid component is unevenly distributed in a lower part. The gas-liquid ratio of the refrigerant circulating flow flowing into the receiver 5 depends on the gas-liquid ratio in the intermediate header 4. Therefore, when the refrigerant flowing into the liquid receiver 5 is a single-phase liquid, the liquid level in the liquid receiver 5 rises and excess liquid refrigerant is stored in the liquid receiver 5. Conversely, when the refrigerant flowing into the liquid receiver 5 contains a gas component, the liquid refrigerant gas is pushed out from the liquid receiver 5 to the intermediate header 4 through the lower communication hole 81 by the volume into which the gas component has flowed.

More specifically, if the amount of the circulating liquid circulating in the refrigeration cycle system is excessive, the efficiency of condensation in the upstream condenser pipe 2 is improved, and the amount of liquid stored in the receiver 5 is increased. The liquid volume decreases. If the amount of circulating liquid circulating in the refrigeration cycle system becomes too small (or if the heat radiation efficiency of the upstream condenser tube 2 decreases), the condensation efficiency of the upstream condenser tube 2 decreases and the refrigerant in the intermediate header 4 becomes a gas component. And the gaseous component also flows into the liquid receiver 5 from the lower communication hole 81. afterwards,
The gas component floats by gravity, and the refrigerant liquid is pushed out to the intermediate header from the lower communication hole of the liquid receiver by that amount to replenish the circulating liquid amount.

The liquid level in the liquid receiver 5 varies depending on the amount of heat exchanged between the liquid receiver 5 and the outside, but the description thereof is omitted here.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing an embodiment of a condenser integrated with a liquid receiver according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part showing a modification.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part showing a modification.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main part showing a modification.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a main part showing a modification.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a main part showing another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 is an upstream condenser tube, 3 is a downstream condenser tube, 4 is an intermediate header, 5 is a liquid receiver, 71 is an upper communication hole, and 81 is a lower communication hole.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-70950 (JP, A) JP-A-3-87572 (JP, A) Jikken 47-42049 (JP, Y1) (58) Field (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F25B 39/04 F25B 43/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An upstream condenser tube, a subcooling downstream condenser tube located below the upstream condenser tube, an inlet header for feeding refrigerant gas to the upstream condenser tube, and the downstream condenser tube. comprising an outlet header receiving the refrigerant liquid from the tube, the intermediate header which communicates the two condensing tube, a gas-liquid separable receiver that communicates possible gas-liquid flow in header between intermediate, of the receiver The lower part communicates with the lower part of the intermediate header through a lower communication hole, the upper part of the liquid receiver communicates with the upper part of the intermediate header through an upper communication hole, and the intermediate part of the liquid receiver does not communicate with the intermediate header. The intermediate part of the intermediate header does not communicate with the liquid receiver. 2. An upstream condenser tube, a downstream condenser tube for supercooling located below the upstream condenser tube, an inlet header for supplying refrigerant gas to the upstream condenser tube, and the downstream condenser tube. An outlet header for receiving the refrigerant liquid from the condenser tube, an intermediate header communicating the condenser tubes, and a gas-liquid separable liquid receiver communicating with the intermediate header in a gas-liquid permeable manner, A lower part and a lower part of the intermediate header communicate with each other only through a lower communication hole.