JPH10311629A - Cooling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent an improper refrigerant from being filled by providing a display part in the vicinity of a service port which is commonly provided on a high pressure refrigerant outlet and a low pressure gas inlet of an indoor unit or an outdoor unit of a show case, etc. SOLUTION: Three-way valves 10, 11 having a flare joint are mounted on a corner part of a skeleton 2 of an indoor unit 1A of a low temperature show case, etc., and joints extended on the extension line and in the diagonal direction of the piping of the three-way valve 10 having the flare joint are a low pressure gas inlet 12 and a service port 13. The three-way valve 11 having the flare joint is provided with a high pressure refrigerant outlet 14 and a service port 15. A refrigerant name display label 16 indicating 'R404A' which is the name of hydrofluorocarbon refrigerant to be used in a refrigerating device is attached to the skeleton 2 in the vicinity of the service ports 13, 15. Danger of filling an improper refrigerant by mistake can thereby be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cooling device such as a showcase or an air conditioner, and more particularly, to an injection port (generally a service port and a service port) used for filling a refrigerant circuit with a refrigerant at the time of installation of the apparatus. ).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A cooling device includes a compressor, a condenser, a receiver,
An expansion valve, an evaporator, and the like have a refrigerant circuit connected by piping, and a refrigerant circulates through the refrigerant circuit to repeatedly perform compression / condensation and expansion / evaporation, thereby performing a cooling action.

[0003] Except for household refrigerators and the like, this refrigerant is generally filled with the refrigerant to be used from a service cylinder into the refrigerant circuit after pipe connection at the time of installation of the apparatus. Also,
If the device has been used for a long time, the refrigerant may decrease due to leakage at the pipe connection, etc. At this time, the refrigerant is additionally charged after repairing the leaked portion. In order to fill such a refrigerant, this type of device has a refrigerant injection port (hereinafter, referred to as a refrigerant injection port) which is used when a used refrigerant is externally injected into a refrigerant circuit.
Service port) is provided in advance.

On the other hand, as a refrigerant, mainly a CFC-based refrigerant and ammonia are used. There are various types of chlorofluorocarbon-based refrigerants, but there is a problem that chlorine contained in chlorofluorocarbons destroys the ozone layer. Therefore, the use of such refrigerants has recently been regulated from the viewpoint of protecting the global environment.

That is, a CFC (Chlor such as R12)
o Fluoro Carbon refrigerant contains chlorine and has a high degree of ozone destruction. Therefore, new production has already been discontinued at the end of 1995, and HCFC (Hyd) such as R22 has been discontinued.
It has been determined that the production of ro Chloro Fluoro Carbon refrigerant will be discontinued in 2020 because it contains chlorine but has a small degree of ozone destruction due to the presence of hydrogen.

Therefore, as these alternative CFC refrigerants,
R404 without ozone destruction containing chlorine and hydrogen
HFC such as A, R407C, R410A, R134a
(Hydro Fluoro Carbon) refrigerants have been developed and are being used. Therefore, the transition period from the CFC refrigerant or the HCFC refrigerant to the HFC refrigerant is present, and various kinds of refrigerants are mixedly used.

[0007]

By the way, the structure and lubricating oil of the cooling device are made in accordance with the refrigerant to be used. If a refrigerant other than the determined refrigerant is used, a predetermined cooling capacity can be obtained. Not only that, it causes various failures, and it is a serious problem to use the wrong type of refrigerant.

However, the refrigerant used in the conventional cooling device is displayed in small letters along with various standard specifications of the device on a not so noticeable portion of the device panel plate or on a nameplate attached to an electrical box or the like. It was not very easy to see. Therefore, when the refrigerant used is overlooked or mistakenly written on the nameplate when filling the refrigerant,
There has always been the danger that a different type of refrigerant than the used refrigerant will be charged.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cooling device that does not mistake the used refrigerant when filling the refrigerant. .

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention focuses on the point that a serviceman always looks at the vicinity of a service port when charging a refrigerant, and determines the type of refrigerant used near the service port. A display unit for displaying is provided.

[0011] More specifically, the display unit is provided near a service port provided alongside a high-pressure liquid outlet and a low-pressure gas inlet of an indoor unit or an outdoor unit such as a showcase.

In the case of a large compressor, a service port may be provided in the discharge pipe and the suction pipe of the compressor. In this case, the display unit is provided near the service port. It is characterized by the following.

[0013]

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

FIG. 1 is a top view of an indoor unit installed in a lower part of a low-temperature showcase or the like or in a machine room, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part thereof.

In the indoor unit 1A, an accumulator (gas-liquid separator) 3, a compressor 4, a condenser 5, a receiver tank (liquid receiver) 6, a pressure switch 7 and the like are connected on a frame 2 by piping. In addition to being mounted, a blower fan 8 and an electrical box 9 are mounted.

Also, a three-way valve 10 with a flare joint for a low-pressure gas inlet and a service port is provided at a corner portion of the gantry 2.
And a three-way valve 11 with a flare joint for the high-pressure liquid outlet and the service port.

The three-way valve 10 with a flare joint for the low-pressure gas inlet is connected to the inlet-side pipe of the accumulator 3 and a joint extending on an extension of this pipe is connected to the low-pressure gas inlet 1.
The joint extending in the oblique direction becomes the service port 13.

A three-way valve 11 with a flare joint for a high-pressure liquid outlet is connected to the outlet pipe of the receiver tank 6, and a joint extending on an extension of this pipe is connected to a high-pressure liquid outlet 14
And the joint extending in the oblique direction becomes the service port 15.

The low-pressure gas inlet 12, the high-pressure liquid outlet 14, and the service pipes 13 and 15 are threaded at their joint pipes. Flare nuts 12a to 15a are attached to the pipes when the apparatus is shipped, as shown in the figure. Have been.

The high-pressure liquid outlet 14 is connected to an inlet pipe of an evaporator installed in a showcase via an expansion valve (not shown) by a pipe connection when the apparatus is installed.
The outlet pipe of the evaporator is connected to the low-pressure gas inlet 12.

On the other hand, on the gantry 2 near the service ports 13 and 15, a refrigerant name display label 16 indicating, for example, "R404A" of an HFC refrigerant which is an alternative Freon refrigerant is used. Is pasted.
Note that “R” in the refrigerant name “R404A” is a refrigerant (Re)
(Frigantant), so that a service person can easily understand that the refrigerant name is a refrigerant name without an explanatory display such as “use refrigerant name”.

The refrigerant name display label 16 is formed of a metal plate such as aluminum, for example, and its background color is a conspicuous color such as yellow, and the character portion has a convex bulge and is colored black or the like.

Since the refrigerant name display label 16 is provided in the vicinity of the service ports 13 and 15 as described above, the service person always looks at the service port when charging the refrigerant.
The name of the used refrigerant will inevitably jump into the eyes of the service person, and will not be mistaken for the used refrigerant. In addition, label 16
By setting the ground color of yellow to yellow and the character portion to black or the like, the presence of the label 16 is conspicuous, and the name of the refrigerant used is clearly visible. In addition, by inflating the character portion in a convex shape, dust etc. adhere to the character portion during use for a long time, making it difficult to see compared to leaving the character portion concave or flat. Can be prevented.

When the apparatus is installed, first, the low-pressure gas inlet 12 and the high-pressure liquid outlet 14 of the indoor unit 1A are provided.
Are connected to the outlet side of the evaporator and the inlet side of the expansion valve in a showcase (not shown), respectively.

Next, the used refrigerant is charged. Although this filling method differs depending on the model, the refrigerant used, the filling equipment, and the like, it will be briefly described as follows.

First, the flare nuts 13a and 15a of the service ports 13 and 15 are removed, and connection nuts on the high pressure side and the low pressure side of a charge hose prepared in advance are attached to the service ports 13 and 15 respectively. At this time, as described above, the refrigerant name display label 16 is inevitably put into the eyes of the service person, so that the used refrigerant can be reconfirmed.

After the charge hose is connected to the service ports 13 and 15, before charging the refrigerant, the other end of the charge hose is connected to a vacuum pump to evacuate the refrigerant circuit. This is for removing nitrogen sealed in the refrigerant circuit at the time of shipment of the apparatus, air and moisture that have entered later, and the like.

When the evacuation is completed normally, the other end of the charge hose is changed from the vacuum pump to the service cylinder containing the used refrigerant, and the three-way valves 10 and 11 are switched or compressed according to a predetermined procedure. The intermittent operation or the like of the machine 4 is performed, and the specified amount of refrigerant determined by the device is charged.
After charging, if the compressor is continuously operated and normality can be confirmed by a pressure gauge or the like, the refrigerant charging operation is completed.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing another embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an outdoor unit installed outdoors, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a main part of the outdoor unit. Are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The outdoor unit 1B corresponds to FIG.
The same components as those described above are housed in the housing 20 and the housing 2
The pipe connecting portion 22 is provided at the lower side of the side plate 21 so as to be exposed. The three-way valve 10 with a flare joint for the low-pressure gas inlet 12 and the service port 13 and the three-way valve 11 with a flare joint for the high-pressure liquid outlet 14 and the service port 15 are connected to the pipe connection portion 22 as described above. Is attached.

The same refrigerant name display label 16 as in the above embodiment is attached to the side plate 21 near the service ports 13 and 15.

In this embodiment, the same operation and effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained. In addition, in an environment where the dust and the like are easily attached outside the room, the conventional name of the refrigerant on the nameplate is particularly difficult to see. Refrigerant name label 1
Providing 6 is more effective.

In the above embodiment, the case where the refrigerant is newly charged at the time of installation of the apparatus has been described. However, even when the refrigerant is leaked and the amount of the refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit is reduced, the additional charging is performed. The same effect as above can be obtained.

In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the indoor unit 1A or the outdoor unit 1B of the showcase has been described. However, the above-mentioned services such as an air conditioner (air conditioner) and a commercial refrigerator-freezer are provided. As long as it has a mouth, it can be applied to various cooling devices.

Some large-sized compressors have the above-described service ports in the discharge pipe and the suction pipe of the compressor. In such a case, the used refrigerant name is also provided near the service port. By attaching the display label, erroneous charging of the used refrigerant can be more reliably prevented.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example is described in which the used refrigerant name display label 16 is devised so as to be as prominent as possible on the gantry 2 or the side plate 21 near the service port. A certain effect can be expected even if the name of the used refrigerant is marked on the gantry 2 or the side plate 21. In the case of a device having a large pipe diameter, a label for indicating a refrigerant to be used may be wrapped around the pipe at the base of the service port with a metal tape or the like.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, a service port used for charging a refrigerant, specifically, a high-pressure liquid outlet and a low-pressure gas inlet of an indoor unit such as a showcase or an outdoor unit are provided. The display unit that displays the type of refrigerant used near the service port
When the service person looks at the vicinity of the service port when charging the refrigerant, the display unit is always in sight, so that there is no danger of mistakenly using the used refrigerant when charging the refrigerant.

In the case of a large compressor, a service port may be provided in the discharge pipe and the suction pipe of the compressor. In this case, the display unit is provided near the service port. In addition, incorrect filling of the used refrigerant can be prevented more reliably.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view showing an embodiment of a cooling device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view showing another embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1A Indoor unit 1B Outdoor unit 2 Mount 3 Accumulator 4 Compressor 5 Condenser 6 Receiver tank 7 Pressure switch 8 Ventilation fan 9 Electrical box 10, 11 Three-way valve with flare joint 12 Low pressure gas inlet 13, 15 Service port 14 High pressure liquid outlet 16 Refrigerant name display label 20 Housing 21 Side plate 22 Piping connection

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cooling device having an inlet for charging a refrigerant into a refrigerant circuit, the cooling device further comprising a display unit for displaying a type of the refrigerant used near the inlet. 2. The cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is provided in the vicinity of the inlet provided alongside a high-pressure liquid outlet and a low-pressure gas inlet of an indoor unit or an outdoor unit such as a showcase. . 3. The cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is provided near the inlet provided in the discharge pipe and the suction pipe of the compressor.