JPH11218359A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To permit the excellent cooling and condensing of refrigerant, flowing through a condenser, and improve the degree of freedom in arranging the condenser by a method wherein the condenser is provided with a cooling means, absorbing the heat of compressed refrigerant into sprayed refrigerant, guided by a refrigerant introducing means, to cool the compressed refrigerant. SOLUTION: In an air conditioner, mounted on a large-size vehicle such as a buss or the like, the discharging side of a compressor 10, driven by an engine, is connected to a condenser 20 through a pipeline 12 while the condenser 20 is connected to an expansion valve 44 through another pipeline 40 and a receiver (liquid receiver) 42. The output side of the expansion valve 44 is connected to an evaporator 50 through a pipeline 46. In this case, another pipeline (refrigerant introducing means) 60 is branched from the pipeline 46 while the pipeline 60 is connected to a cooling means 70, provided in the condenser 20. The condenser 20 is cooled by sprayed refrigerant, introduced through the pipeline 60, to cool and condense the refrigerant efficiently while the refrigerant, after being cooled, is returned to the suction side of the compressor 10 through a pipeline 62.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a technique for cooling an air-conditioning refrigerant having absorbed heat.

[0002]

[Related Background Art] In an air conditioner mounted on a vehicle,
The gaseous refrigerant compressed by the compressor (compressor) is condensed by a condenser (condenser), and the liquefied liquid refrigerant is supplied to an evaporator (evaporator) via a receiver (liquid receiver). The evaporator exchanges heat with the outside air to perform air conditioning such as cooling and dehumidification in the vehicle.

In general, a condenser is formed by forming a pipe through which a refrigerant flows into a zigzag shape and arranging a plurality of thin fins in parallel around the pipe. It is arranged at the front of the vehicle so that the running wind flows between the fins. Thereby, during traveling, the gaseous refrigerant that absorbs heat by the evaporator and flows in the conduit of the condenser is air-cooled through the fins and condensed.

[0004]

However, when the condenser is disposed at the front of the vehicle as described above and the refrigerant is cooled by air cooling and condensed, the refrigerant cannot be condensed unless the vehicle is running. There's a problem. In other words, when the vehicle is traveling on a congested road, there is a possibility that the traveling wind is not obtained, the refrigerant is not sufficiently condensed, and air conditioning such as cooling and dehumidification in the vehicle cannot be performed properly. is there.

[0005] Therefore, an electric fan is provided at the back of the condenser, thereby forcibly cooling the condenser. However, when the condenser is arranged in the front part of the vehicle, an engine or the like is usually arranged behind the condenser, that is, behind the electric fan, and the engine or the like becomes an obstacle, and air does not flow well, and the electric motor is not provided. Even if a fan is provided, the cooling capacity is still limited, and it is difficult to sufficiently condense the refrigerant and properly perform air conditioning.

In addition, large vehicles such as buses require high air-conditioning capacity due to the large space inside the vehicle, and therefore require a large condenser. Usually, however, a condenser requires an engine cooling system to obtain a sufficient cooling capacity. It is arranged in parallel with the radiator for water, and it is extremely difficult to arrange such a large condenser in parallel with the radiator at the front of the vehicle due to restrictions on the vehicle width and the like. The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner in which a condenser can be arranged at a free position and a stable condensation ability can be ensured. It is in.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a part of the mist refrigerant downstream of the expansion valve is guided to the condenser by the refrigerant introduction means. By the low-temperature low-pressure mist refrigerant, the heat of the refrigerant compressed by the compressor and flowing through the condenser is sufficiently absorbed,
The refrigerant is cooled well. Thereby, the compressed refrigerant from the compressor is successfully condensed in the condenser.

Therefore, for example, when the air conditioner is mounted on a vehicle, even if the vehicle is traveling on a congested road and a traveling wind cannot be obtained, the refrigerant is cooled well and, therefore, is stabilized. Condensing capacity is obtained. In addition, the condenser does not always need to be disposed so that the traveling wind is applied thereto, and the degree of freedom in disposing the condenser is improved. Claim 2
According to the invention, the expansion valve is provided near the evaporator.
And the second expansion valve provided in the vicinity of the cooling means, it is possible to supply the mist-like refrigerant immediately after the low temperature and low pressure by the adiabatic expansion to each of the evaporator and the cooling means, and the heat loss And condensing efficiency by the condenser as well as cooling efficiency by the evaporator are improved.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, a first embodiment will be described. Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a schematic configuration diagram of an air conditioner (air conditioner unit) mounted on a vehicle according to a first embodiment. Hereinafter, a configuration of an air conditioner according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. .

At the output side of a compressor (compressor) 10 connected to an output shaft of an engine (not shown), a pipe 12 serving as a refrigerant passage extends, and this pipe 12 is connected to a condenser (condenser) 20. It is connected to the. The compressor 10 compresses a gaseous refrigerant, and the condenser 20 condenses the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 10.

A conduit 40 extends from the condenser 20, and the conduit 40 is connected to an input side of an expansion valve 44 via a receiver (liquid receiver) 42. Here, the receiver 42 is a device having a gas-liquid separation function of receiving and temporarily storing the condensed and liquefied refrigerant, and thereafter making the refrigerant flowing through the conduit 40 completely in a liquid state only. The valve 44 rapidly releases the compressed and liquefied high-pressure refrigerant after passing through the nozzle and adiabatically expands the refrigerant to form a low-temperature low-pressure mist.

A line 46 is provided at the output side of the expansion valve 44.
The pipe 46 is connected to the input side of an evaporator (evaporator) 50. Evaporator 50
Is a heat exchanger that cools the outside air by absorbing the heat of the outside air into the low-temperature and low-pressure mist-like refrigerant that has passed through the expansion valve 44 and evaporating the refrigerant. A return line 52 extends from the output side of the evaporator 50, and the return line 52 is connected to the check valve 5.
4 is connected to the input side of the compressor 10.

In the first embodiment, a pipe (refrigerant introduction means) 60 extends from the pipe 46, and the pipe 60 is connected to the cooling means 7 provided in the condenser 20.
Connected to 0. A pipe (refrigerant introduction means) 62 communicating with the pipe 60 extends from the cooling means 70, and the pipe 62 is connected to a portion of the return pipe 52 between the check valve 54 and the compressor 10. Have been.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a detailed view of an example of the condenser 20 and the cooling means 70. The condenser 2 applied to the air conditioner according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
The configuration of an example of the cooling unit 70 will be described. As shown in the drawing, the condenser 20 and the cooling means 70 are configured such that the inside of a box-shaped outer shell member 21 is divided into a condenser 20 in the upper chamber and a cooling means 70 in the lower chamber by a partition plate 22. The pipe 12 and the pipe 40 are respectively connected to the opposing side surfaces of the outer shell member 21 so as to communicate with the condenser 20. Further, the pipe 60 and the pipe 60 are connected so as to communicate with the cooling means 70. The path 62 and the outer shell member 21
Are connected respectively to the opposing side surfaces.

The partition plate 22 is provided with a plate-like fin 28 so as to penetrate and protrude from the condenser 20 to the cooling means 70.
Are provided in parallel. The fins 28 are made of a material having high thermal conductivity and high corrosion resistance. The capacitor 20 of the outer shell member 21
A plurality of air-cooling fins 29 are erected on the portion.
FIG. 2 shows only the air-cooling fins 29 provided on the upper surface of the outer shell member 21. However, it is preferable that the number of the air-cooling fins 29 be as large as possible. It is preferable to provide the air-cooling fins 29 also on the side surface 21.

Hereinafter, the operation and effect of the air conditioner according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. As described later, an evaporator 5 is provided in the return line 52.
A gaseous refrigerant that has absorbed and evaporated due to the action of zero flows, and this gaseous refrigerant is compressed by the compressor 10 and supplied to the condenser 20 of the condenser 20 as shown by the solid arrow.

When the refrigerant is supplied to the condenser 20 as described above, the heat of the refrigerant is transmitted through the outer shell member 21 and the air-cooling fins 29 and is radiated to the atmosphere, thereby passing through the condenser 20. The refrigerant is cooled, that is, condensed and liquefied, and flows out to the pipeline 40 as indicated by a solid arrow.
Further, since the heat of the refrigerant is dissipated into the atmosphere through the wall surfaces of the pipes 12 and 40, the refrigerant is further condensed and liquefied while flowing through the pipes 12 and 40. Will be.

The refrigerant that has flowed into the pipe 40 is once received by the receiver 42, is completely converted into a liquid refrigerant containing only liquid components, and is sent to the expansion valve 44. (Mist state). The low-temperature, low-pressure mist-like refrigerant is supplied to the evaporator 50. In the evaporator 50, the low-temperature and low-pressure mist-like refrigerant removes the heat of the outside air, that is, the air in the vehicle and evaporates to a gaseous state. Note that a heater (not shown) is actually provided downstream of the evaporator 50 when viewed in the air flow direction, and the temperature inside the vehicle is adjusted by combination with the heater. The description of the details of the temperature adjustment is omitted.

The gaseous refrigerant in the evaporator 50 is returned through the check valve 54 as indicated by the solid arrow, and is compressed again in the compressor 10. By the way, a part of the refrigerant which has been adiabatically expanded by the expansion valve 44 and made into a mist of low temperature and low pressure is supplied to the cooling means 70 through the pipeline 60 as shown by a broken arrow. At this time,
Since the temperature of the refrigerant in the condenser 20 is higher than that of the low-temperature and low-pressure mist-like refrigerant supplied to the cooling means 70, the heat of the refrigerant in the condenser 20 moves toward the cooling means 70 through the plurality of fins 28, The cooling means 70 absorbs the mist refrigerant in contact with the fins 28. That is,
The refrigerant passing through the condenser 20 is favorably cooled by the low-temperature low-pressure refrigerant atomized by the expansion valve 44.

That is, in the air conditioner, the air-cooling fins 29 provided on the outer shell member 21 or the pipes 12 and 4 are used.
The refrigerant flowing through the condenser 20 through the 0 wall can not only be air-cooled but also cooled by the cooling means 70. That is, the refrigerant before passing through the expansion valve 44 can be cooled and condensed using the mist-like refrigerant that has been reduced in temperature and pressure through the expansion valve 44.

Therefore, if the air conditioner of the present invention is used, for example, even when the vehicle is traveling on a congested road or the like and the traveling wind does not sufficiently hit the condenser 20, the traveling state of the vehicle can be improved. Regardless, the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 10 can always be stably cooled and condensed by the condenser 20 without reducing the air-conditioning capacity in the vehicle.

Further, with such a configuration, the condenser 20 does not necessarily have to be disposed at the front portion of the vehicle that is exposed to the traveling wind, and the degree of freedom in disposing the condenser 20 can be increased. That is, the condenser 20 can be freely disposed at a position where there is enough space, for example, at the center or the rear of the vehicle behind the engine.

By the action of the check valve 54 in the drawing, the refrigerant flowing from the pipe 62 into the pipe 52 is removed.
Backflow to the side is prevented, whereby a reduction in the cooling / dehumidifying capacity in the vehicle by the evaporator 50 is suitably prevented. Referring to FIG. 3, another example of the condenser 20 and the cooling means 70 is shown.
Another example of the cooling unit 70 will be described.

In the other example, as shown in FIG. 3, a condenser 20 is formed by connecting a pipe 12 and a pipe 40 and forming a zigzag-shaped pipe 20a and a plurality of parallel pipes around the pipe 20a. And a thin plate-shaped fin 20 b disposed therein, and furthermore, it is housed in a box-shaped cooling means 70 composed of an outer shell member 32. Then, the pipe 60 and the pipe 6
2 are connected substantially diagonally to the side surfaces of the outer shell member 32 so as to communicate with the internal space of the cooling means 70, that is, the chamber 36 formed between the outer shell member 32 and the condenser 20.

In the air conditioner having the condenser 20 of the other example, the same operation and effect as described above are obtained, that is, the mist-like refrigerant which has been made low-temperature and low-pressure through the expansion valve 44 passes through the expansion valve 44. It is possible to cool the refrigerant before performing. Particularly in the case of this other example, since the condenser 20 is completely surrounded by the mist-like refrigerant at low temperature and low pressure through the expansion valve 44, the refrigerant in the condenser 20 is cooled and condensed extremely well. There is an advantage. However, since the condenser 20 has no radiating fins such as the air-cooling fins 29, the heat of the refrigerant is radiated to the atmosphere mainly through the walls of the pipes 12 and 40. Become. In this case, if fins such as ribs are erected on the wall surfaces of the pipeline 12 and the pipeline 40, the heat radiation effect can be improved.

Next, a second embodiment will be described. Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown a schematic configuration diagram of an air conditioner unit mounted on a vehicle according to a second embodiment. Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the air conditioner according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The compressor 10 and the condenser 2
Since the configuration such as 0 is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description will be omitted, and only the portions different from the first embodiment will be described.

In the second embodiment, a pipe 60 extends from the pipe 46 between the receiver 42 and the expansion valve 44. A valve 45 is interposed. That is, the evaporator 5
An expansion valve (second expansion valve) 45 different from the expansion valve (first expansion valve) 44 provided near 0 is provided near the cooling means 70.

When the pipe 60 is disposed and the expansion valve 45 is interposed in this manner, the refrigerant flows as indicated by solid arrows and dashed arrows in the figure, and is basically the same as in the first embodiment. In this case, since the expansion valve 45 is located in the vicinity of the cooling means 70 in particular, the extremely low-temperature and low-pressure mist immediately after the adiabatic expansion by the expansion valve 45 is achieved. Refrigerant is supplied to the cooling means 70, so that the condenser 20 is connected to the compressor 1
Thus, the refrigerant compressed at 0 can be cooled and condensed even better.

That is, if the air conditioner is configured as in the second embodiment, the temperature of the mist-like refrigerant which has been adiabatically expanded and has become low temperature and low pressure is not raised in the pipe 60 by the heat of the outside air. In other words, it can be used effectively without heat loss,
Therefore, the condensation efficiency of the condenser 20 can be further improved.

[0030]

As is apparent from the above description, claim 1
According to the air conditioner, the heat of the refrigerant compressed by the compressor and flowing in the condenser can be absorbed by the low-temperature and low-pressure mist refrigerant downstream of the expansion valve, and the compressed refrigerant flowing in the condenser is cooled and condensed well. be able to. Therefore, for example, when the air conditioner is mounted on a vehicle, even when the vehicle is traveling on a congested road and a traveling wind is not obtained, the refrigerant is cooled well to obtain a stable condensation capacity. be able to. Further, it is not necessary to dispose the condenser so that traveling wind is applied thereto, so that the degree of freedom in disposing the condenser can be improved.

According to the air conditioner of the second aspect, the expansion valve is constituted by the first expansion valve provided near the evaporator and the second expansion valve provided near the cooling means. It is possible to supply the mist refrigerant immediately after the low temperature and the low pressure by the adiabatic expansion to each of the evaporator and the cooling means, thereby reducing the heat loss and improving the cooling efficiency by the evaporator and the condensation efficiency by the condenser. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a first air conditioner mounted on a vehicle according to the present invention.
It is a schematic structure figure showing an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a condenser and a cooling unit.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of a condenser and a cooling unit.

FIG. 4 shows a second example of the air conditioner according to the present invention mounted on a vehicle.
It is a schematic structure figure showing an embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Compressor (compressor) 20 Condenser (condenser) 21 Outer shell member 22 Partition plate 28 Fin 29 Air-cooled fin 32 Outer shell member 36 Room 42 Receiver (receiver) 44 Expansion valve (first expansion valve) 45 Expansion valve (Second expansion valve) 46 Pipe line 50 Evaporator (evaporator) 54 Check valve 60 Pipe line (refrigerant introduction unit) 62 Pipe line (refrigerant introduction unit) 70 Cooling unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A compressor for compressing a gaseous refrigerant, a condenser for condensing and liquefying the refrigerant compressed by the compressor, and a receiver for temporarily storing the refrigerant liquefied by the condenser. An expansion valve that adiabatically expands the liquid refrigerant that has passed through the liquid receiver and converts it into a low-temperature and low-pressure mist refrigerant; an evaporator that absorbs heat in the mist refrigerant and vaporizes the mist refrigerant; A refrigerant introduction unit that guides a part of the downstream mist refrigerant to the condenser and returns the refrigerant to the compressor; and a refrigerant that is provided in the condenser and is compressed into the mist refrigerant guided by the refrigerant introduction unit. And a cooling means for absorbing the heat of the compressed air and cooling the compressed refrigerant. A first expansion valve provided in the vicinity of the evaporator, for supplying the liquid refrigerant passing through the liquid receiver to the evaporator as an atomized refrigerant, and the cooling means. The air conditioner according to claim 1, further comprising a second expansion valve provided in the vicinity of the cooling device and configured to supply the liquid refrigerant that has passed through the liquid receiver to the cooling unit as a mist refrigerant.