KR20140146891A - Distributor and air conditioner including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a distributor and an air conditioner including the same. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a distributor includes: a distributor body configured to define a passage where a refrigerant flows; an inlet formed in one side of the distributor body to guide the refrigerant to flow in; a gas-liquid separator configured to separate a gas refrigerant and a liquid refrigerant from the refrigerant flowing through the inlet, and having at least one blade; a liquid refrigerant outlet formed in the other side of the distributor body to discharge the liquid refrigerant separated by the gas-liquid separator; and a gas refrigerant outlet formed in one side of the liquid refrigerant outlet to discharge the gas refrigerant separated by the gas-liquid separator.

Description

The present invention relates to a distributor and an air conditioner including the air conditioner,

The present invention relates to a distributor and an air conditioner including the same.

Background Art [0002] Generally, an air conditioner is a home appliance that cools or heats a predetermined space by using a refrigeration system that utilizes characteristics of pressure and temperature of a refrigerant.

1 is a system diagram showing a configuration of a general air conditioner driven by a refrigeration system.

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional refrigeration system 1 includes a compressor 2 for compressing refrigerant into a gas state at a high temperature and a high pressure, a condenser 3 for condensing the refrigerant compressed in the compressor 2 into a liquid phase, (4) for expanding the liquid refrigerant condensed in the condenser (3) to a low-pressure liquid refrigerant by the throttling action, and an evaporator (6) for evaporating the refrigerant in the two-phase state expanded in the expansion device do.

The refrigerating system further includes a distributor 5 disposed at an inlet side of the evaporator 6 and distributing the refrigerant to a plurality of paths introduced into the evaporator 6. The refrigerant decompressed in the expansion device 4 is introduced into the distributor 5, branched into a plurality of paths, and then introduced into the evaporator 6.

Here, the number of paths branched by the distributor 5 may correspond to the number of entrances (or paths) flowing into the evaporator 6.

That is, the refrigeration system 1 for driving the air conditioner forms a series of refrigeration cycles consisting of the compressor 2, the condenser 3, the expansion device 4, the distributor 5 and the evaporator 6 And is configured to cool or heat the room.

On the other hand, the two-phase refrigerant containing the liquid phase and the gaseous refrigerant flows into the distributor 5, and the two-phase refrigerant is branched into a plurality of paths and flows into the evaporator 6. The liquid refrigerant in the refrigerant flowing into the evaporator 6 functions to cool the heat-exchanged air during the evaporation. However, since the gaseous refrigerant has already evaporated, heat exchange with air in the evaporator 6 is not performed.

Therefore, the liquid refrigerant may be introduced into the evaporator 6 to perform the heat exchange, which may help to improve the heat exchanging ability and efficiency.

However, according to the conventional distributor, the following problems arise.

As described above, since the liquid refrigerant and the gaseous refrigerant coexist in the distributor, the gaseous refrigerant is introduced into the evaporator together with the liquid refrigerant, thereby deteriorating the heat exchanging ability and efficiency.

In addition, in the inside of the distributor, the liquid refrigerant and the gaseous refrigerant have different specific gravities from each other, so that the liquid refrigerant and the gaseous refrigerant can not be mixed uniformly. As a result, when the liquid refrigerant and the gaseous refrigerant are separated and discharged from the distributor, the heat exchange efficiency in the evaporator is lowered.

That is, since the mixing ratio of the liquid refrigerant and the gaseous refrigerant becomes unstable between a plurality of refrigerant paths flowing in the evaporator, heat exchange (evaporation) of the liquid phase refrigerant is sufficiently performed in a part of the evaporator, (Evaporation) is not properly performed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been proposed in order to solve such problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a distributor and an air conditioner for supplying liquid refrigerant to an evaporator.

A distributor according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a distributor body defining a flow path through which refrigerant flows; An inflow hole formed at one side of the dispenser main body to guide inflow of the refrigerant; A gas-liquid separator for separating the refrigerant introduced through the inflow hole into a gas phase and a liquid phase and including at least one blade; A liquid coolant outlet formed on the other side of the distributor main body for discharging the liquid coolant separated from the gas-liquid separator; And a gas-phase refrigerant outlet formed at one side of the liquid-phase refrigerant outlet for discharging the gaseous refrigerant separated from the gas-liquid separator.

The gas-liquid separator includes a gas-liquid separation main body having a pipe-coupling portion for receiving at least a portion of the gas-phase outlet pipe; And a plurality of blades provided on an outer circumferential surface of the gas-liquid separation body.

At least one blade of the plurality of blades is fixed to an inner side of a portion where the first body part and the second body part are coupled.

Further, between the pipe coupling portion and the vapor phase outlet pipe,

And a gap for defining the gaseous coolant inflow portion into which the separated gaseous coolant flows is formed.

The gas-phase outlet pipe may include one end portion for receiving a refrigerant flowing into the pipe-coupling portion through the gaseous refrigerant inlet portion.

An air conditioner according to another aspect includes: a compressor for compressing refrigerant; A condenser for condensing the refrigerant compressed in the compressor; An expansion device for decompressing the refrigerant condensed in the condenser; A distributor provided with a gas-liquid separator for separating the two-phase refrigerant decompressed in the expansion device into liquid refrigerant and gaseous refrigerant; And an evaporator for evaporating the liquid refrigerant separated in the distributor.

A guide pipe for guiding the gaseous refrigerant separated from the distributor to a suction side of the compressor; And a valve device provided in the guide pipe.

A supercooler disposed at an outlet side of the condenser to cool the refrigerant passing through the condenser; A supercooled inlet pipe for introducing the gaseous refrigerant separated from the distributor into the supercooler; And a supercooled outlet pipe for guiding the refrigerant passing through the subcooler to the suction side of the compressor.

An injection pipe for guiding the gaseous refrigerant separated by the distributor to the compressor; And an inlet expansion device disposed at the inlet side of the evaporator for expanding the liquid refrigerant separated from the distributor, wherein the refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator is sucked into the suction port of the compressor, And the refrigerant flows into the injection port of the compressor.

According to the present invention, a gas-liquid separator for generating a cyclone flow inside the distributor is provided, and the liquid refrigerant and the gaseous refrigerant can be separated by the cyclone flow, so that the separated liquid refrigerant can be introduced into the evaporator .

Further, at the refrigerant outlet side of the distributor, the gas-phase refrigerant outlet is formed at the center portion and the solid-liquid phase refrigerant outlet is formed at the edge, so there is an advantage that the liquid refrigerant and the gaseous refrigerant can be easily separated according to the cyclone flow.

The gas-liquid separator is provided at its center with an inlet for inserting the gas-phase pipe, and a flow path through which the gas-phase refrigerant flows can be formed between the inlet and the gas-phase pipe, so that the amount of the liquid- There are advantages.

In addition, since the dispenser main body is configured to have a small cross-sectional area of flow from the gas-liquid separator toward the refrigerant outlet side, the speed of the cyclone flow can be maintained above a certain level until the refrigerant is discharged.

In addition, since the liquid refrigerant separated through the distributor is introduced into the evaporator, the heat exchanging ability is improved and the dispensing unbalance of liquid and gaseous refrigerant in the distributor can be prevented. Since the separated gaseous refrigerant flows directly into the compressor, It is possible to prevent the refrigerant from being introduced into the compressor.

In addition, the air conditioner is provided with a subcooler, and the gaseous refrigerant separated from the distributor can be introduced into the supercooler, thereby supercooling the refrigerant, thereby reducing the quality of the refrigerant flowing into the distributor. Thus, the heat exchange ability in the evaporator can be improved.

In addition, the gaseous refrigerant separated from the distributor is injected into the compressor to perform two-stage compression in the compressor, and the compressor load can be reduced.

1 is a system diagram showing a configuration of a general air conditioner driven by a refrigeration system.
2 is a system diagram showing the configuration of an air conditioner according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
3 is an external perspective view showing a configuration of a distributor according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
4 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a distributor according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line I-I 'of FIG.
6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a refrigerant flow in a distributor according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a system diagram showing the configuration of an air conditioner according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a system diagram showing the configuration of an air conditioner according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the spirit of the invention is not limited to the embodiments shown and that those skilled in the art, upon reading and understanding the spirit of the invention, may easily suggest other embodiments within the scope of the same concept.

2 is a system diagram showing the configuration of an air conditioner according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the air conditioner 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a compressor 20 for compressing refrigerant into a gas state at a high temperature and a high pressure, a refrigerant compressed in the compressor 20, An expansion device 40 for expanding the liquid refrigerant condensed in the condenser 30 to a low pressure liquid refrigerant and an evaporator 40 for evaporating the refrigerant in the two-phase state expanded in the expansion device 40 50).

The air conditioner (10) further includes a distributor (100) disposed at an outlet side of the expansion device (40) and branching the refrigerant through a plurality of paths. The refrigerant decompressed in the expansion device 40 is introduced into the distributor 100 and divided into a plurality of paths to be introduced into the compressor 20 or the evaporator 50.

The distributor 100 may separate the refrigerant in the two-phase state introduced into the distributor 100 into liquid refrigerant and gaseous refrigerant. Specifically, the distributor 100 includes a gaseous outlet pipe 140 through which the separated gaseous refrigerant is discharged, and a liquid outlet pipe 150 through which the separated liquid refrigerant is discharged.

The air conditioner 10 is provided with a guide pipe 60 for guiding the gaseous refrigerant discharged from the gas phase outlet pipe 140 to the inlet side of the compressor 20 and a guide pipe 60 provided for the guide pipe 60, 20 to prevent the liquid refrigerant from entering the refrigerant circuit.

The guide pipe 60 may be connected to an evaporator outlet pipe 68 for guiding the refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator 50 to the compressor 20. Therefore, the gaseous refrigerant flowing through the guide pipe 60 may be mixed with the gaseous refrigerant flowing through the evaporator outlet pipe 68, and may be introduced into the compressor 20.

Meanwhile, during the operation of the air conditioner 10, an emergency situation may occur in which the liquid refrigerant flows into the guide pipe 60. At this time, the valve device 65 is controlled to be turned off, so that the liquid refrigerant can be prevented from flowing into the compressor 20.

In detail, when the liquid refrigerant flows into the compressor 20, the load of the compressor 20 may abnormally increase. Accordingly, when the current value applied to the compressor 20 is detected to be out of the normal range, it is recognized that the liquid refrigerant flows into the compressor 20, and the valve device 65 is turned off, It is possible to restrict the refrigerant flow in the refrigerant circuit.

Here, the current value may be sensed through a current sensor that is controllably connected to the compressor.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the distributor 100 will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a distributor according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a distributor according to the first embodiment of the present invention, Sectional view taken along line I '.

Referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, the distributor 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a first body 110 and a second body 120.

The first body part 110 and the second body part 120 may be detachably coupled. The first body part 110 includes a first body coupling part 118 coupled to the second body part 120 and the second body part 120 includes the first body part 110, And a second body coupling portion 128 coupled thereto.

The first body part 110 and the second body part 120 may be combined to form a "distributor body". The distributor body 110 and 120 may include a refrigerant flow space.

The first body 110 is formed with an inflow hole 111 through which liquid and gaseous two-phase refrigerant flows. The inflow hole 111 constitutes one end of the first body part 110 and the first body part 118 constitutes the other end of the first body part 110.

An inflow pipe (not shown) may be coupled to the inflow hole 111. The liquid phase and the gaseous two-phase refrigerant decompressed in the expansion device (40) can be introduced into the inflow hole (111) through the inflow pipe. A flow space through which the refrigerant flowing through the inflow hole 111 flows is formed in the first body part 110.

The first body 110 may be inclined so that the cross-sectional area of the refrigerant increases from the upstream side toward the downstream side with respect to the flow direction of the refrigerant.

That is, the first body part 110 may be formed so that the flow space of the refrigerant gradually increases from the inflow hole 111 toward the first body coupling part 118. Therefore, the first cross-sectional area of the first body part 110 in the first body part 118 is the largest.

In the second body part 120, a plurality of refrigerant outlets 126 and 127 through which the refrigerant is discharged are formed. In detail, the second body part 120 is provided with an outlet part 125 defined as one surface (discharge surface) through which the refrigerant is discharged, and a plurality of refrigerant outlets 126 and 127 formed through at least a part of the outlet part 125 ).

The outlet part 125 constitutes one end of the second body part 120 and the second body part 128 constitutes the other end of the second body part 120.

The inflow hole 111 is formed on one side of the distributor body 110 and 120 and the plurality of refrigerant outlets 126 and 127 may be formed on the other side of the distributor body 110 and 120.

Here, the "one side" means the upper or lower surface of the distributor body 110 and 120, and the "other side" The refrigerant flows from one side of the inlet hole 111 to the other side where the refrigerant outlets 126 and 127 are formed.

For convenience of explanation, it is understood that the refrigerant flows from the upstream side (or the inlet side) toward the downstream side (the discharge side) until the refrigerant flows into the distributor 100 and is discharged based on the flow direction.

The second body part 120 may be formed to be inclined from the upstream side toward the downstream side with respect to the flow direction of the refrigerant such that the cross sectional area of the refrigerant decreases. That is, the second body part 120 may be formed so that the flow space gradually decreases in a direction in which the refrigerant flows from the second body coupling part 128.

Accordingly, the second body part 120 of the second body part 128 has the largest flow cross-sectional area.

The plurality of refrigerant outlets 126 and 127 include a gaseous refrigerant outlet 126 through which the gaseous refrigerant separated from the distributor 100 is discharged and a plurality of liquid refrigerant outlets 127 through which the liquid refrigerant is discharged.

The number of the liquid coolant outlets 127 may be formed corresponding to the number of paths of the evaporator 50, that is, the number of the inlet passages of the evaporator 50. That is, if the refrigerant is branched into three paths and flows into the evaporator 50, the number of the liquid coolant outlets 127 may be three.

The gas-phase refrigerant outlet 126 is formed at a substantially central portion of the outlet 125 and the liquid-phase refrigerant outlet 127 may be disposed along a rim of the outlet 125. The plurality of liquid coolant outlets 127 may be arranged to surround the gaseous coolant outlets 126.

3 and 4, the gas-phase refrigerant outlet 126 is one, and the liquid-phase refrigerant outlet 127 may be disposed so as to surround the gas-phase refrigerant outlet 126.

The gas phase outlet pipe (140) is coupled to the gas phase refrigerant outlet (126), and the liquid phase outlet pipe (150) can be coupled to the liquid phase refrigerant outlet (127). For convenience of explanation, only two liquid outlet pipes 150 are shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

The distributor 100 further includes a gas-liquid separator 130 disposed inside the first body 110 and the second body 120 to separate the two-phase refrigerant into liquid refrigerant and gaseous refrigerant .

A first accommodation space 112 for accommodating at least a part of the gas-liquid separator 130 is formed in the first body part 110. In the second body part 120, A second receiving space portion 122 for receiving the remaining portion of the separating device 130 is formed. The first housing space 112 and the second housing space 122 are defined as a part of the flow space of the refrigerant.

In other words, the gas-liquid separator 130, particularly the blades 132, is disposed at a portion where the first body 110 and the second body 120 are coupled, that is, . The gas-liquid separator 130 may have a size or height corresponding to the diameter of the first and second body couplers 118 and 128 (see FIG. 5).

Therefore, when the gas-liquid separator 130 is assembled inside the first and second body parts 110 and 120, due to the inclined structure of the first and second body parts 110 and 120, . However, the first and second body parts 110 and 120 and the gas-liquid separator 130 may be fixed to each other by a fixing member or may be combined by welding.

The gas-liquid separator 130 includes a substantially cylindrical gas-liquid separating main body 131 and a plurality of blades 132 disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the gas-liquid separating main body 131 and guiding the flow of the refrigerant.

The gas-liquid separation main body 131 is disposed at approximately the center of the first housing space part 112 and the second housing space part 122.

The gas-liquid separation main body 131 is provided with a pipe coupling portion 133 to which the gas phase outlet pipe 140 is coupled. The pipe coupling portion 133 may have a shape of a depression in which at least a part of the gas-liquid separation main body 131 is recessed.

The gas phase outlet pipe 140 is inserted into the pipe coupling part 133 and may extend outside the second body part 120 through the gas phase refrigerant outlet 126. That is, the gas-phase outlet pipe 140 includes a side portion to be inserted into the pipe coupling portion 133 and a side portion extending to the outside of the second body portion 120.

The gaseous refrigerant separated from the distributor 100 flows into the vapor phase outlet pipe 140 via the pipe coupling part 133. Therefore, the inner space of the pipe coupling part 133 includes the flow space of the separated gaseous refrigerant.

The plurality of blades 132 are disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the gas-liquid separation body 131 at substantially equal intervals. The plurality of blades 132 may have a shape that is twisted in a predetermined direction so that cyclone flow of the refrigerant may be generated.

5, at least one blade tip of the plurality of blades 132 contacts or contacts the inner surface of the first body coupling portion 118 or the second body coupling portion 128, Are positioned adjacent to each other.

The gas-liquid separator 130 includes a guide portion 135 for guiding the refrigerant introduced through the inlet hole 111 to the outside of the gas-liquid separation body 131.

The guide portion 135 defines the opposite side of the pipe coupling portion 133. The guide part 135 may be disposed inside the first body part 120 and may be disposed to face the inflow hole 111.

The refrigerant flowing in the inflow hole 111 flows in the direction of the edge of the gas-liquid separator 130 in which the blades 132 are located when the refrigerant reaches the guide portion 135 and passes through the plurality of blades 132 .

As described above, since the first body part 110 is configured to have a larger flow cross-sectional area toward the downstream side with respect to the flow direction of the refrigerant, the first body part 110 can easily flow toward the plurality of blades 132.

In the process of passing the plurality of blades 132 through the plurality of blades 132, the coolant is subjected to rotational force or centrifugal force due to the shape of the blades 132. Thus, the refrigerant forms a cyclonic flow that rotates along the inner surface of the second body part 120.

When the two-phase refrigerant forms a cyclone flow, the liquid refrigerant and the gaseous refrigerant tend to be separated by the density difference.

Specifically, the liquid refrigerant having a relatively high density flows outward along the cyclone flow toward the inner surface of the distributor body, particularly, the second body portion 120, and the gaseous refrigerant having a low density flows outwardly from the outer surface The second body part 120 may have a tendency to flow toward the center part of the second body part 120. [

As described above, since the second body part 120 is formed to be inclined in a direction in which the flow cross-sectional area decreases from the second body coupling part 128 toward the outlet part 125, the speed of the cyclone flow or The rotational force can be maintained above a certain level.

According to the flow tendency of the liquid refrigerant and the gaseous refrigerant, the two-phase refrigerant can be separated into the liquid refrigerant and the gaseous refrigerant.

The size or diameter of the pipe coupling portion 133 of the gas-liquid separation main body 131 may be somewhat larger than the size or diameter of the vapor outlet pipe 140.

5, the inner surface of the pipe coupling portion 133 and the outer surface of the vapor outlet pipe 140 are separated from each other by a predetermined distance to form a gap. The gaseous refrigerant may flow into the pipe coupling portion 133 through the gap.

Therefore, the gap defines the gaseous refrigerant inflow portion 141 for introducing the gaseous refrigerant into the pipe coupling portion 133.

The refrigerant flowing into the piping coupling portion 133 through the gaseous coolant inlet portion 141 may be introduced into the vapor outlet pipe 140 inserted into the pipe coupling portion 133. [

6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a refrigerant flow in a distributor according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6, the refrigerant flow in the distributor 100 will be briefly described.

The two-phase refrigerant introduced into the first body part 110 through the inflow hole 111 is guided by the guide part 135 and flows outwardly where the plurality of blades 132 are located.

During the passage of the refrigerant through the plurality of blades 132, the refrigerant is given a rotating force or a centrifugal force to form a cyclone flow. The liquid refrigerant having a relatively high density flows along the inner surface of the second body part 120 by the cyclone flow and the gaseous refrigerant having a relatively low density flows along the outer surface of the gas-liquid separation body 131 do.

The liquid refrigerant is discharged from the distributor 100 through a plurality of liquid coolant outlets 127 formed at a rim of the outlet 125 and flows through the liquid outlet pipe 150 to the evaporator 50. [ Lt; / RTI > Of course, the refrigerant discharged from the plurality of liquid coolant outlets 127 may be introduced into the evaporator 50 after being lapped.

On the other hand, the gaseous refrigerant flows into the piping coupling part 133 through a gap between the piping coupling part 133 and the vapor phase outlet pipe 140, and flows into the piping coupling part 133 And then flows into the gaseous outlet pipe 140 through one end of the inserted gaseous outlet pipe 140.

The refrigerant of the gas phase outlet pipe 140 may flow to the suction side of the compressor 20 via the guide pipe 60.

Since the liquid refrigerant and the gaseous refrigerant in the two-phase refrigerant can be easily separated, the gas-liquid separator 130 is provided inside the distributor 100, so that the liquid refrigerant flows into the evaporator 50 So that the heat exchange ability or efficiency in the evaporator 50 can be improved.

Hereinafter, the second embodiment and the third embodiment of the present invention will be described. These embodiments differ from the first embodiment only in a part of the configuration of the air conditioner, so that the differences will be mainly described. The same portions as those of the first embodiment are used for the description and the reference numerals of the first embodiment .

7 is a system diagram showing the configuration of an air conditioner according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, the air conditioner 10 according to the second embodiment of the present invention is provided with an air conditioner 10, which is disposed at the outlet side of the condenser 30 and can further cool the condensed refrigerant that has passed through the condenser 30 The supercooler 200 is included as a heat exchanger.

The supercooler (200) is configured such that the condensed refrigerant passing through the condenser (30) and the gaseous refrigerant separated from the distributor (100) can be heat-exchanged. Since the gaseous refrigerant is a low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant that is reduced in pressure in the expansion device (40) as compared with the condensed refrigerant, the condensed refrigerant can be easily cooled.

In the subcooler 200, a refrigerant pipe for guiding the condensed refrigerant and supercooling pipes 210 and 220 for guiding the gaseous refrigerant may be provided.

The supercooling pipes 210 and 220 are connected to the supercooler 200 through a supercooling inlet pipe 210 which is connected to the superheating pipe 200 to introduce the superheating refrigerant into the supercooler 200, And a supercooled outlet pipe 220 for guiding the refrigerant to the suction side of the compressor 20. The supercooled outlet pipe 220 may be coupled to the evaporator outlet pipe 68.

The distributor 100 uses the description of the distributor 100 described in the first embodiment.

The flow of the refrigerant will be briefly described.

The refrigerant compressed in the compressor (20) is condensed in the condenser (30) and then supercooled in the subcooler (200). At this time, the condensed refrigerant having passed through the condenser (30) can be cooled by heat exchange with the gaseous refrigerant separated from the distributor (100).

That is, in the subcooler 200, the condensed refrigerant and the gaseous refrigerant flow in and exchange heat with each other. The condensed refrigerant is further cooled, and the gaseous refrigerant can be introduced into the compressor 20 after the heat is absorbed. Here, the gaseous refrigerant may be guided by the supercooling inlet pipe 210 and the subcooling outlet pipe 220.

The liquid refrigerant separated from the distributor 100 flows into the liquid outlet pipe 150 and flows into the evaporator 50. The refrigerant is evaporated in the evaporator 50 and then sucked into the compressor 20. [ have. At this time, the refrigerant having passed through the evaporator (50) is combined with the gaseous refrigerant flowing through the supercooled outlet pipe (220) and sucked into the compressor (20).

As described above, since the supercooler can be used by using the gaseous refrigerant separated from the distributor 100, the dryness of the refrigerant expanded in the expansion device 40 can be lowered, The efficiency can be improved.

8 is a system diagram showing the configuration of an air conditioner according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

8, an air conditioner 10 according to a third embodiment of the present invention includes an injection pipe 300 coupled to the gas phase outlet pipe 140 for injecting gaseous refrigerant into the compressor 20, An evaporator inlet pipe 67 connected to the liquid outlet pipe 150 for guiding the liquid refrigerant to the inlet side of the evaporator 50 and an inlet for supplying the liquid refrigerant to the evaporator inlet pipe 67, An expansion device 340 is included.

Here, the expansion device 40 may be referred to as a first expansion device, and the inlet expansion device 340 may be referred to as a second expansion device.

The compressor 20 includes a suction port 21 connected to the evaporator outlet pipe 68 for suctioning the refrigerant and an injection port 23 connected to the injection pipe 300 for injecting the refrigerant .

The refrigerant flowing into the suction port (21) is a refrigerant having an evaporation pressure or a suction pressure of the compressor, and the refrigerant flowing into the injection port (23) is understood as a refrigerant having an intermediate pressure. Here, the intermediate pressure is lower than the discharge pressure (high pressure) of the compressor 20 and can be understood as a pressure higher than the evaporation pressure or the suction pressure (low pressure).

The distributor 100 uses the description of the distributor 100 described in the first embodiment.

The flow of the refrigerant will be briefly described.

The refrigerant compressed in the compressor (20) is condensed in the condenser (30) and then is depressurized to the intermediate pressure in the first expansion device (40). The decompressed refrigerant flows into the distributor 100 and is separated into the gaseous refrigerant and the liquid refrigerant.

The liquid refrigerant separated from the distributor 100 flows through the liquid outlet pipe 150 and the evaporator inlet pipe 67 and may be introduced into the evaporator 50. At this time, the liquid refrigerant is depressurized to a low pressure by the second expansion device (340), and then flows into the evaporator (50).

The refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator (50) can be sucked into the compressor (20) through the suction port (21) and can be primarily compressed.

The gaseous refrigerant separated from the distributor 100 flows through the gas phase outlet pipe 140 and the injection pipe 300 and can be injected into the injection port 23 of the compressor 20. The injected refrigerant is mixed with the primary compressed refrigerant and can be secondarily compressed.

In this way, since the intermediate-pressure gaseous refrigerant separated by the distributor 100 can be injected into the compressor 20, the load of the compressor 20 can be reduced.

10: air conditioner 20: compressor
21: Suction port 23: Injection port
30: condenser 40: expansion device
50: Evaporator 67: Evaporator inlet piping
68: Evaporator outlet piping 100: Dispenser
110: first body part 111: inflow hole
112: first accommodation space part 118: first body coupling part
120: second body part 122: second accommodation space part
125: outlet portion 126: gas-phase refrigerant outlet
127: liquid coolant outlet 128: second body coupling portion
130: gas-liquid separator 131: gas-liquid separating body
132: blade 133: pipe fitting part
135: guide portion 140: gas outlet pipe
150: liquid outlet pipe 200: supercooler
210: supercooling inlet pipe 220: supercooling outlet pipe
300: injection piping 340: inlet expansion device

Claims (16)

A distributor body defining a flow path through which the refrigerant flows;
An inflow hole formed at one side of the dispenser main body to guide inflow of the refrigerant;
A gas-liquid separator for separating the refrigerant introduced through the inflow hole into a gas phase and a liquid phase and including at least one blade;
A liquid coolant outlet formed on the other side of the distributor main body for discharging the liquid coolant separated from the gas-liquid separator; And
And a gas-phase refrigerant outlet formed at one side of the liquid-phase refrigerant outlet for discharging the gaseous refrigerant separated from the gas-liquid separator. The method according to claim 1,
In the distributor body,
A first body part forming the inflow hole; And
And a second body part forming the liquid refrigerant outlet and the gaseous refrigerant outlet,
And the gas-liquid separator is disposed inside the first body part and the second body part. 3. The method of claim 2,
A liquid outlet pipe connected to the liquid coolant outlet; And
And a gas outlet pipe connected to the gas-liquid separator through the gas-phase refrigerant outlet. The method of claim 3,
In the gas-liquid separator,
A gas-liquid separation main body having a pipe coupling portion for receiving at least a part of the gas-phase outlet pipe; And
And a plurality of blades provided on an outer circumferential surface of the gas-liquid separation body. 5. The method of claim 4,
In the gas-liquid separator,
And a guide portion guiding the refrigerant introduced through the inflow hole toward the plurality of blades and forming a surface opposite to the pipe fitting portion. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein at least one blade of the plurality of blades is fixed to an inner side of a portion where the first body portion and the second body portion are coupled. 5. The method of claim 4,
Between the pipe coupling portion and the vapor phase outlet pipe,
And a gap defining a gaseous coolant inlet portion into which the separated gaseous coolant flows is formed. 8. The method of claim 7,
In the gas-phase outlet pipe,
And a side end portion that receives the refrigerant flowing into the pipe coupling portion through the gaseous coolant inlet portion. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the first body portion is formed to be inclined such that the flow cross-sectional area increases toward the downstream side with respect to the flow direction of the refrigerant,
And the second body portion is formed to be inclined such that the flow cross-sectional area decreases toward the downstream side with respect to the flow direction of the refrigerant. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein at least one blade of the plurality of blades includes:
A distributor having a shape twisted in a predetermined direction to generate a cyclone flow of refrigerant. 11. The method of claim 10,
The liquid coolant outlets are provided in a plurality of openings,
And a plurality of liquid-phase refrigerant outlets are arranged to surround the gas-phase refrigerant outlets. A compressor for compressing the refrigerant;
A condenser for condensing the refrigerant compressed in the compressor;
An expansion device for decompressing the refrigerant condensed in the condenser;
A distributor provided with a gas-liquid separator for separating the two-phase refrigerant decompressed in the expansion device into liquid refrigerant and gaseous refrigerant; And
And an evaporator for evaporating the liquid refrigerant separated in the distributor. 13. The method of claim 12,
A guide pipe for guiding the gaseous refrigerant separated from the distributor to a suction side of the compressor; And
Further comprising a valve device provided in the guide pipe. 13. The method of claim 12,
A supercooler disposed at an outlet side of the condenser to cool the refrigerant passing through the condenser;
A supercooled inlet pipe for introducing the gaseous refrigerant separated from the distributor into the supercooler; And
And a supercooled outlet pipe for guiding the refrigerant having passed through the supercooler to a suction side of the compressor. 13. The method of claim 12,
An injection pipe for guiding the gaseous refrigerant separated from the distributor to the compressor; And
Further comprising an inlet expansion device disposed at an inlet side of the evaporator for expanding the liquid refrigerant separated from the distributor,
Wherein the refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator is sucked into the suction port of the compressor, and the refrigerant flowing in the injection pipe flows into the injection port of the compressor. 13. The method of claim 12,
In the gas-liquid separator,
A gas-liquid separation main body having a pipe coupling portion for receiving at least a part of the gas-phase outlet pipe; And
And a plurality of blades provided on an outer circumferential surface of the gas-liquid separation main body.

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