KR102122261B1 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

The air conditioner of the present invention is a compressor for compressing a refrigerant; A condenser where the refrigerant compressed in the compressor is condensed; An expansion mechanism for expanding the refrigerant condensed in the condenser; An evaporator in which the refrigerant expanded in the expansion mechanism is evaporated, and the condenser includes a pair of headers; A plurality of tubes communicating a pair of headers; A partition member for dividing the inside of the pair of headers into a first space in which the lowermost tube communicates with a plurality of tubes, and a second space in which other tubes positioned above the lowermost tube communicate; A sub-channel connected to a first space of any one of the pair of headers; It includes a sub-expansion mechanism installed in the sub-channel, and the sub-channel is connected to a condenser outlet channel for guiding the refrigerant in the second space to the expansion mechanism, and the condenser is connected to an injection channel for injecting refrigerant through the bottom tube into the compressor. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the material cost and to be compact.

Description

Air conditioner

The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly to an air conditioner capable of injecting a refrigerant with a compressor.

In general, an air conditioner is installed to cool/heat indoor air or purify air to create a more comfortable indoor environment for humans.

The air conditioner may be a compressor, a condenser, an expander, an evaporator, etc. connected to a refrigerant pipe, and the refrigerant may cool the room while circulating the compressor, condenser, expander, and evaporator.

The air conditioner can depressurize the refrigerant condensed in the condenser with an expansion mechanism and evaporate it in an internal heat exchanger to inject it into the compressor, and the refrigerant injected into the compressor can prevent the compressor discharge temperature from becoming excessively high.

The internal heat exchanger may be configured as a plate heat exchanger that heats the refrigerant passing through the condenser and the refrigerant decompressed by the expansion mechanism.

KR 10-1155494 B1 (2012.06.15)

Since the air conditioner according to the prior art has a separate internal heat exchanger installed between the condenser and the expansion mechanism, there is a problem in that the number of parts increases and the cost increases.

An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator capable of minimizing the number of parts and minimizing the cost.

An air conditioner according to the present invention for solving the above problems is a compressor for compressing a refrigerant; A condenser in which the refrigerant compressed in the compressor is condensed; An expansion mechanism for expanding the refrigerant condensed in the condenser; An evaporator in which the refrigerant expanded in the expansion mechanism is evaporated, and the condenser includes a pair of headers; A plurality of tubes communicating the pair of headers; A partition member dividing the inside of the pair of headers into a first space in which the lowermost tube communicates with the plurality of tubes, and a second space in which other tubes located above the lowermost tube communicate; A sub-channel connected to a first space of any one of the pair of headers; It includes a sub-expansion mechanism installed in the sub-flow path, the sub-flow path is connected to a condenser outlet flow path for guiding the refrigerant in the second space to the expansion mechanism, and the condenser cools the refrigerant that has passed through the lowermost tube to the compressor. The injection flow path to be injected is connected.

The air conditioner according to the present invention is a compressor for compressing a refrigerant; A condenser in which the refrigerant compressed in the compressor is condensed; An expansion mechanism for expanding the refrigerant condensed in the condenser; An evaporator in which the refrigerant expanded in the expansion mechanism is evaporated, and the condenser includes a pair of headers; A plurality of channel tubes each formed with a plurality of channels communicating the pair of headers; A partition member for dividing the inside of the pair of headers into a first space in which the lowermost channel tube is communicated among the plurality of channel tubes, and a second space in which other channel tubes located above the lowermost channel tube are communicated. ; A sub-channel connected to a first space of any one of the pair of headers; It includes a sub-expansion mechanism installed in the sub-channel, the sub-channel is connected to the outlet passage of the condenser for guiding the refrigerant in the second space to the expansion mechanism, and the condenser receives the refrigerant that has passed through the lowermost channel tube. An injection flow path for injection with a compressor is connected.

The lowermost channel tube may be arranged to transfer heat to the nearest other channel tube.

The bottom channel tube may be brazed to the nearest other channel tube.

The lowermost channel tube may have a separation spaced apart from the nearest other channel tube.

The separation portion may be bent at an angle.

The compressor may include a plurality of compression units for compressing the refrigerant in multiple stages, and the injection flow path may be connected to a compression unit connection flow path at one end connecting the plurality of compression units, and the other end of the first one of the pair of headers. It can be connected to space.

The partition member may divide the first space and the second space up and down.

The first space may be located below the second space.

The present invention has the advantage that there is no need to install a separate internal heat exchanger because some of the channel tubes function as internal heat exchangers.

In addition, the number of parts is minimized, the cost is low, there is an advantage that the outdoor unit can be compact.

1 is a diagram showing a refrigerant flow of an air conditioner according to the present invention,
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the interior of the condenser shown in Figure 1,
Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a condenser of another embodiment of the air conditioner according to the present invention,
4 is a side view of the pin of the condenser shown in FIG. 3.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a view showing a refrigerant flow of one embodiment of an air conditioner according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the inside of the condenser shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to Figure 1, the air conditioner is a compressor (2) for compressing the refrigerant; A condenser 4 in which the refrigerant compressed in the compressor 2 is condensed; An expansion mechanism (6) for expanding the refrigerant condensed in the condenser (4); The evaporator 8 in which the refrigerant expanded in the expansion mechanism 6 is evaporated may be included, and the refrigerant passing through a part of the condenser 4 may be injected into the compressor 2.

The compressor 2 may be composed of a scroll compressor, a rotary compressor, a screw compressor, or the like. The compressor 2 may be composed of a multi-stage compressor that compresses the refrigerant in multiple stages. The compressor 2 may include a plurality of compression units 12 and 14 that compress the refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator 8 in multiple stages. The plurality of compression units 12 and 14 secondarily compress the refrigerant compressed in the first stage compression unit 12 and the first stage compression unit 12 for compressing the refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator 8. It is possible to include a two-stage compression section (14). In the compressor 2, the first stage compression unit 12 and the second stage compression unit 14 may be connected to the compression unit connection flow path 16. The compressor 2 may be connected to a compressor suction passage 18 through which refrigerant is sucked and a compressor discharge passage 20 through which compressed refrigerant is discharged. The compressor 2 may be connected to an accumulator 21 that accumulates liquid refrigerant among refrigerants that have passed through the evaporator 8, and the compressor suction passage 18 connects the compressor 2 and the accumulator 21. Can be. The compressor discharge passage 20 may be connected to the condenser 4. The refrigerant sucked into the compressor suction passage 18 is compressed in the first-stage compression section 12 and then flows to the second-stage compression section 14 through the compression section connection flow path 16 and compressed in the second-stage compression section 14. Can be. The refrigerant compressed in the two-stage compression unit 14 may be discharged to the compressor discharge passage 20 and then flowed to the condenser 4.

The condenser 4 may be configured as an air-cooled heat exchanger that heats and condenses the refrigerant compressed and discharged from the compressor 2 by heat exchange with air. The condenser 4 can function as an outdoor heat exchanger that exchanges refrigerant with outdoor air. The air conditioner may include an outdoor fan 5 for blowing outdoor air to the condenser 4. The condenser 4 may be an aluminum heat exchanger made of aluminum. The condenser 4 may also serve as a sub cooler for supercooling the condensed refrigerant in addition to the function of condensing the refrigerant. The condenser 4 functions as a condensation passage through which a part of the refrigerant passage through which the refrigerant passes heat exchanges refrigerant with outdoor air, and the rest of the refrigerant passage through which the refrigerant passes functions as a supercooling passage through which the refrigerant condensed in the condensation passage is supercooled. Can be. The refrigerant compressed in the compressor 2 may pass through all of the condensation passages, and some of the refrigerants passing through the condensation passages flow through the condenser outlet passage 22 to the expansion mechanism 6 and among the refrigerants passing through the condensation passages The rest can be injected into the compressor 2 through the supercooled flow path. Hereinafter, the condenser 4 will be described in detail later.

The expansion mechanism 6 may be connected to the condenser 4 and the condenser outlet passage 22. The expansion mechanism 6 may be configured as an expansion valve capable of adjusting the opening degree, such as EEV or LEV. The expansion mechanism 6 may include a first expansion mechanism 24 installed closer to the evaporator 8 among the condenser 4 and the evaporator 8. The expansion mechanism 6 may include a second expansion mechanism 26 installed between the first expansion mechanism 24 and the condenser 4. The second expansion mechanism 26 may be connected to the condenser outlet flow path 22. The first expansion mechanism 24 and the second expansion mechanism 26 may be connected to the liquid pipe 28. The first expansion mechanism 24 may be connected to the evaporator 8 and the evaporator inlet passage 29.

The evaporator 8 may be configured as an air-cooled heat exchanger that heats and evaporates the refrigerant expanded in the expansion mechanism 6 with air. The evaporator 8 may function as an indoor heat exchanger that exchanges refrigerant with indoor air. The air conditioner may include an indoor fan 9 for blowing indoor air to the evaporator 8. The evaporator 8 may be connected to an engine 32 that guides the refrigerant exchanged with the indoor air to flow to the compressor 2. The engine 32 can be connected to the accumulator 21.

The air conditioner can be installed in the outdoor unit (O) with the compressor (2) and the condenser (4) with the outdoor fan (5), and the evaporator (8) with the indoor fan (9) in the indoor unit (I). In addition, the expansion mechanism 6 may be installed in one of the outdoor unit (O) and the indoor unit (I).

The condenser 4 includes a pair of headers 40 and 42 and a plurality of tubes 50-60 communicating the pair of headers 40 and 42.

The condenser 4 has a first space S1 in which the lowermost tube 50 of the plurality of tubes 50-60 communicates with the inside of the pair of headers 40 and 42, and the uppermost tube 50. A partition member (70) (72) for partitioning into a second space (S2) in which the other tubes (51-60) located in the communication; A sub-channel 80 connected to the first space S1 of any one of the headers 40 and 42; It includes a sub-expansion mechanism 90 provided in the sub-channel 80.

The condenser 4 may be installed such that a pair of headers 40 and 42 are spaced apart in a horizontal direction, and each of the pair of headers 40 and 42 may be disposed long in the vertical direction, and a plurality of tubes (50-60) Each may be arranged long in the horizontal direction.

The pair of headers 40 and 42 may include baffles 44 and 46 that zigzag the refrigerant passage through which the refrigerant passes. The baffles 44 and 46 may be horizontally disposed in the first space S1. The baffle (44) (46) guides the refrigerant that has passed through any one of the other tubes (51-60) except the bottom tube (50) to another of the other tubes (51-60) except the bottom tube (50). can do. The baffles 44 and 46 may be spaced apart from the partition members 70 and 72 in the vertical direction. The baffles 44 and 46 may divide a plurality of second spaces S2 of the headers 40 and 42, and a plurality of second spaces are positioned in the header 40 and 42 in the vertical direction. The first space S1 may be located below the second space S2 positioned at the bottom of the plurality of second spaces. A compressor discharge passage 20 may be connected to at least one of the pair of headers 40 and 42. The compressor discharge passage 20 may be connected to at least one of the second spaces S2. The compressor discharge passage 20 may be connected to the first space S1 and the second space S2 farther than the second space S2 close to the first space S1.

The tube 50-60 may be composed of a channel tube in which a plurality of channels C are formed, hereinafter referred to as a channel tube 50-60, and the channel tube located at the bottom side may be referred to as the bottom channel tube ( 50), and the channel tube positioned above the lowermost channel tube is referred to as another channel tube 51-60.

The channel tube 50-60 may be formed to have a length in which each of the plurality of channels C is perpendicular to the air flow direction. The plurality of channels C may be partitioned in a direction parallel to the air flow direction. The plurality of channels C may be formed in 2 to 10 channels in one channel tube. In the condenser 4, any one refrigerant among a pair of headers 40 and 42 is distributed to a plurality of channels C to pass through a plurality of channels C, and then a pair of headers 40 and 42. Can be combined in one of the other.

In the plurality of channel tubes 50-60, other channel tubes 51-60 may be sequentially arranged in the vertical direction on the upper side of the lowermost channel tube 50.

The lowermost channel tube 50 may be arranged to be in heat transfer with the other channel tube 51 closest to the lowermost channel tube 50 of the other channel tubes 51-60. The lowermost channel tube 50 may be brazed to the other channel tube 51 closest to the lowest channel tube 50 of the other channel tubes 51-60. The lowermost channel tube 50 may include a junction 50A that is joined to the nearest other channel tube 51. The lowermost channel tube 50 may have a separation portion 50B spaced apart from the nearest other channel tube 51. The spacer 50B may be bent at an angle. The separation portion 50B may be formed to be inclined downward toward the heads 40 and 42 from the bonding portion 50A.

A plurality of other channel tubes 51-60 may be spaced apart in the vertical direction, and fins 61 and 69 may be disposed between the other channel tubes 51-60. The other channel tube 51-60 may include a contact channel tube 51 in contact with the bottom channel tube 50 and a non-contact channel tube 52-60 in contact with the bottom channel tube 50. . The refrigerant may pass through the non-contact channel tube 52-60 first and then through the contact channel tube 51, and the contact channel tube 51 and the lowermost channel tube 50 pass through the contact channel tube 51. The refrigerant to pass through and the refrigerant passing through the lowermost channel tube 50 may function as an internal heat exchanger. The refrigerant passing through the contact channel tube 51 may be supercooled while absorbing the heat of the refrigerant passing through the lower channel tube 50, and the refrigerant passing through the lower channel tube 50 may be the contact channel tube 51 It can be vaporized while taking away heat with a refrigerant passing through.

The partition members 70 and 72 may partition the headers 40 and 42 into a first space S1 positioned at the bottom and a second space S2 positioned above the first space S1. have.

The sub-channel 80 may be connected to a condenser outlet channel 22 for guiding the refrigerant in the second space S2 to the expansion mechanism 6. The sub-channel 80 may have one end 82 connected to the condenser outlet channel 22, and the other end connected to the first space S1 of one of the pair of headers 40 and 42. . The sub-channel 89 may penetrate one of the pair of headers 40 and 42.

The sub-expansion mechanism 90 may control the refrigerant passing through the sub-channel 80. The sub-expansion mechanism 90 may include an electronic expansion valve such as EEV or LEV. The sub-expansion mechanism 90 may be opened so that gaseous refrigerant is injected into the compressor 2 when the discharge temperature of the compressor 2 is high or high. The sub-expansion mechanism 90 may be closed so that gaseous refrigerant is not injected into the compressor 2 when the discharge temperature of the compressor 2 is low or low. The refrigerant leaked from the second space S2 to the condenser outlet passage 22 may pass through the sub-expansion mechanism 90 when the sub-expansion mechanism 90 is opened. When the refrigerant passes through the sub-expansion mechanism 90, it can be expanded to an intermediate pressure between the high pressure of the condenser 4 and the low pressure of the evaporator 8. The refrigerant that has passed through the sub-expansion mechanism 90 may flow into the first space S1 through the sub-channel 80 and then flow to the lowermost channel tube 50 in the first space S1. The refrigerant passing through the lowermost channel tube 50 may be vaporized while exchanging heat with the refrigerant passing through the nearest other channel tube 51.

The condenser 4 includes an injection flow path 100 that injects refrigerant passing through the lowermost channel tube 50 into the compressor 2. The injection flow path 100 is directly connected to the lowermost channel tube 50, and it is possible to inject the refrigerant passing through the lowermost channel tube 50 into the compressor 2, and a pair from the lowermost channel tube 50 It is possible to inject the refrigerant flowing into the other one of the headers 40 and 42 of the compressor 2.

The injection flow path 100 has one end 102 connected to a compression section connecting flow path 16 connecting a plurality of compression sections 12 and 14, and the other end 104 of the pair of headers 40 and 42 It may be connected to the first space S1 of the other 42.

The air conditioner has a sub-channel 80, a first space S1 of any one of the pair of headers 40 and 42, a lowermost channel tube 50, and a pair of headers 40 ) 42, the first space S1 of the other 42 and the injection flow path 100 may function as a bypass flow path. The bypass passage may be a passage through which the refrigerant condensed in a part of the condenser 4 bypasses the expansion mechanism 6 and the evaporator 8 and is injected into the compressor 2.

Hereinafter, the operation of the present invention configured as described above will be described.

First, when the air conditioner is operated, the compressor 2 may be driven and stopped in response to a load, and when the compressor 2 is driven, the compressor 2 may compress and discharge refrigerant. The refrigerant discharged from the compressor 2 can flow to the condenser 4. The refrigerant flowing into the condenser 4 may be introduced into the second space S2 in which the compressor discharge passage 20 communicates among the pair of headers 40 and 42. The refrigerant introduced into the second space (S2) may sequentially pass through the other channel tube (51-60) and the other second space (S2), while passing through the other channel tube (51-60) with outdoor air Condensation may occur during heat exchange. The refrigerant that has passed through all the other channel tubes 51-60 may be discharged from the second space S2 to which the condenser outlet channel 22 is connected to the condenser outlet channel 22, and then expanded in the expansion mechanism 6 After that it can be evaporated in the evaporator (8). The refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator 8 can be sucked into the compressor 2 and compressed.

The air conditioner serves when the gas injection of the compressor 2 is required, for example, when the discharge temperature of the compressor 2 is equal to or higher than the set temperature, or when the discharge temperature of the compressor 2 is equal to or higher than the preset temperature. The expansion mechanism 90 can be opened at a set opening degree. When the sub-expansion mechanism 90 is opened, some of the refrigerant leaked from the second space S2 to the condenser outlet passage 22 may flow toward the expansion mechanism 6. The refrigerant flowing toward the expansion mechanism 6 may sequentially flow through the expansion mechanism 6 and the evaporator 8 and enter the compressor 2, and is compressed by the first stage compression unit 12 of the compressor 2 Can be. On the other hand, the high pressure of the condenser 4 and the evaporator (4) while passing through the sub-expansion mechanism (90), the rest of the refrigerant flowing out from the second space (S2) to the condenser outlet flow path (22), which is not flowing toward the expansion mechanism (6). 8) can be expanded to intermediate pressure between low pressure. The refrigerant that has passed through the sub-expansion mechanism 90 may be introduced into the first space S1 of any one of the pair of headers 40 and 42, and the lowest refrigerant in the first space S1. It may be distributed to a plurality of channels (C) of the tube 50. The refrigerant dispersed in the plurality of channels C may be heat-exchanged with the refrigerant passing through the contact refrigerant tube 51 positioned above the lower refrigerant tube 50. The refrigerant that has passed through the lowermost refrigerant tube 50 may be discharged into the first space S1 of the other 42 of the pair of headers 40 and 42, and the pair of headers 40 and 42 ) May be merged in the first space S1 of the other 42, and then introduced into the injection flow path 100. The refrigerant flowing into the injection passage 100 may pass through the injection passage 100 and flow into the compression passage connecting passage 16 of the compressor 2. The refrigerant introduced into the compression unit connection flow passage 16 may be mixed with the refrigerant compressed in the first stage compression unit 12 and then introduced into the second stage compression unit 14 and compressed.

3 is a cross-sectional view showing a condenser of another embodiment of an air conditioner according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a side view showing a fin of the condenser shown in FIG. 3.

In the present embodiment, the condenser 4 may be configured as a fin tube heat exchanger, one refrigerant passage P may be formed in each of the plurality of tubes 50-60, and a plurality of tubes 50-60. To the pin 110 may be connected. A plurality of fins 110 may be disposed, and the plurality of fins 110 may be combined with a plurality of tubes 51-60. The plurality of fins 110 may be arranged to be spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of the tube. The fins 110 may be formed with through holes 111-120 through which the tubes 50-60 pass. The through-holes 111-120 may be formed such that the through-holes 111 through which the bottom tube 50 passes and the through-holes 112 through which the other tube 51 closest to the bottom tube 50 penetrates are in communication. Can be. Among the through holes 111-120, other through holes 112-120 other than the through hole 111 through which the lowermost tube 50 penetrates are spaced at intervals of other tubes 51-60 other than the bottom tube 50. It can be formed spaced apart. Since this embodiment has the same or similar configuration and operation to other embodiments of the present invention, the same reference numerals are used and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

2: Compressor 4: Condenser
6: expansion mechanism 8: evaporator
12: first compression unit 14: second compression unit
16: Compressor connection flow path 22: Condenser outlet flow path
40, 42: Header 50: Bottom tube
51-60: Other tube 70,72: Compartment member
80: sub flow path 90: sub expansion mechanism
100: injection flow path S1: first space
S2: Second space

Claims (9)

A compressor for compressing the refrigerant;
A condenser in which the refrigerant compressed in the compressor is condensed;
An expansion mechanism for expanding the refrigerant condensed in the condenser;
And an evaporator in which the refrigerant expanded in the expansion mechanism is evaporated,
The condenser includes a pair of headers;
A plurality of tubes communicating the pair of headers;
A pin connected to the plurality of tubes and having through holes through which the plurality of tubes pass;
A partition member dividing the inside of the pair of headers into a first space in which the lowermost tube communicates with the plurality of tubes, and a second space in which other tubes positioned above the lowermost tube communicate;
A sub-channel connected to a first space of any one of the pair of headers;
It includes a sub-expansion mechanism installed in the sub-channel,
The sub-channel is connected to a condenser outlet channel for guiding the refrigerant in the second space to the expansion mechanism,
An injection flow path for injecting the refrigerant that has passed through the lowermost tube into the compressor is connected to the condenser,
The pin
An air conditioner in which a through hole through which the bottom tube passes is formed and a through hole through which the other tube closest to the bottom tube passes passes through. A compressor for compressing the refrigerant;
A condenser in which the refrigerant compressed in the compressor is condensed;
An expansion mechanism for expanding the refrigerant condensed in the condenser;
And an evaporator in which the refrigerant expanded in the expansion mechanism is evaporated,
The condenser includes a pair of headers;
A plurality of channel tubes each formed with a plurality of channels communicating the pair of headers;
A pin connected to the plurality of channel tubes and having through holes through which the plurality of channel tubes pass;
A partition member for dividing the inside of the pair of headers into a first space in which the lowest channel tube of the plurality of channel tubes communicates, and a second space in which other channel tubes located above the lower channel tube communicate with each other. ;
A sub-channel connected to a first space of any one of the pair of headers;
It includes a sub-expansion mechanism installed in the sub-channel,
The sub-channel is connected to a condenser outlet channel for guiding the refrigerant in the second space to the expansion mechanism,
The condenser is connected with an injection flow path for injecting refrigerant through the lowermost channel tube into the compressor,
The pin
An air conditioner in which a through hole through which the lowermost channel tube passes and a through hole through which the other channel tube closest to the lowest channel tube penetrates are formed in communication. According to claim 2,
The lowermost channel tube is an air conditioner arranged to transfer heat to the nearest other channel tube. According to claim 2,
The lowermost channel tube is an air conditioner brazed to the nearest other channel tube. According to claim 2,
The lowermost channel tube is an air conditioner having a separation part spaced apart from the nearest other channel tube. The method of claim 5,
The spacer is an air conditioner bent at an angle. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The compressor includes a plurality of compression units for multistage compression of the refrigerant,
The injection flow path is an air conditioner having one end connected to a compression portion connecting flow path connecting the plurality of compression portions and the other end connected to a first space of the other of the pair of headers. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The partition member is an air conditioner for vertically partitioning the first space and the second space. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The first space is an air conditioner located below the second space.

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