US2166908A - Refrigerating apparatus - Google Patents

Description

July 18, 1939. mupp 2,165,908

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 13, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 m. v W

' JJ INVENTOR. qwqalvca 4. P101. IPP

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ATTORNEY.

July 1939. L. A. PHILIPP' REFRIGERATING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 13, 1933 INVENTOR. Lot/emu 9. PHIL/PP ATTORNEY.

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Patented July 18, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE narmoaasrme maasrus land Application January 13, 1933, Serial No. 651,560

6Claims.

refrigerating system wherein the pressure of theliquid refrigerant is reduced in an improved arrangemnt in its flow from the condenser to the evaporator so as to aid in insuring the admission -of liquid refrigerant only to the inlet of the evaporator.

More specifically, it is an object of my invention to provide in a refrigerator cabinet a refrigerant evaporator located adjacent the upper wall of the food storage compartment, a refrigerant condensing element which is connected to the evaporating element'by liquid and vapor conduits, which condensing element is located in a machine compartment below the food storage compartment, and to control the flow of liquid refrigerant to the evaporating element by a float valve mechanism located in the machine compartment; also, to provide means in the liquid su ply conduit which keeps the pressures therein sufficiently high enough to prevent refrigeration takin place in said liquid supply conduit to prevent loss of refrigeration.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description. reference being bad to the accompanying drawings:

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical view in cross section of a refrigerating apparatus embodying features of my invention:

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of the refrigerating system shown in Fig. 1:

Fig. 2a is a fragmentary view showin the refrigerant suction and supply conduits in thermal contact with each other.

Pig. 3 is an enlarged view in cross section of a valve mechanism embodying features of my invention; and

50 Figs. 4 and 5 are modified forms of refrigerating systems embodying features of my invention.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 2 designates, in general, a cabinet having a food storage compartment 2i provided with an opening The cabinet 2. is also provided with a machine compartment 21 located below the food storage compartment 2|. An

opening 28, which is closed by a movable door 29,

provides ready access to the machine compartment 21. Within the-food storage compartment 5 2| there is disposed a refrigerant cooling or evaporating element designated, in general, by the numeral 32. Witlrin the machine compartment 21 there is disposed a refrigerant condensing or circulating element designated, in general, by the numeral ll. These elements are operatively associated with one another by a liquid supply conduit "and a vapor return conduit 31. These conduits extend from the machine compartment into the food storage compartment and, preferably, are disposed in the insulated wall structure forming the food storage compartment.

The evaporating element comprises, in general. a lL-shaped structure ll having a pair of headers 42 adjacent the upper extremities thereof. A conduit 43, to which the vapor return conduit 31 is connected, is arranged to interconnect the headers 42 to provide for the return of gaseous refrigerant from the evaporator 32 from the headers 4! simultaneously. The evaporator 32 is provided with a liquid refrigerant inlet 45 in the bottom wall thereof.

The refrigerant condensing element 33 comprises, in general, a compressor 5|. a motor '5 for driving the compressor. and a condenser 53. The compressor withdraws gaseous refrigerant from the evaporator 32 through the vapor conduit 31. compresses the gaseous refrigerant and delivers it to the condenser 83 wherein it is liquefied a d from which it is delivered in liouid form to the evaporator 32 through the su ply conduit 35 under the control of a high side float mechanism or restrictor IS. The high side float mechani m II operates when a predetermined amount of Jim uid refrigerant is delivered thereto to allow the passage oi' a quantity of licuid refr erant in o the supply conduit II. This mechanism contro s the flow of liquid refrigerant to the supply conduit and serves as a pressure reducing valve or restrictor between the condensing element 33. or high pressure portion of the system. and th evaporating element, or low'pressure portion of the system, which restrictor meters the quantity of liquidrefrigerant flowing from the condensin element to the evaporating lement during entire operation of the system. Preferably, the system is intermittently operated. In order to control the operation of the condensing element, I have provided an automatic switch I! which is adapted Ii into the supply conduit 35 from the high side float mechanism 55, I have provided a pressure responsive valve or restrictor designated, in general, by the numeral Ill. This valve meters the flow of liquid refrigerant and maintains the pressures in the supply conduit 35- sufllciently high enough so as to prevent refrigeration taking place in said conduit so that no refrigeration takes place except in the evaporating element 32. This prevents loss of refrigeration, increases the capacity of the apparatus and prevents the collection of moisturein the insulated portions of the food storage compartment through which the liquid supply conduit 35 extends.

As shown in Fig. 3, the pressure responsive valve includes a valve proper It and a valve seat 64 located within a casing 35. The casing 85 is provided with an inlet 51, to which the outlet end of the conduit 35 is associated, and an outlet 58. A coupling III is connected on one end to the outlet 65 and on its other end to the inlet 45 of the evaporating element 32. The valve proper 52 is secured to a weight I! which is adapted to move upwardly and downwardly within a chamber ll, depending upon the pressure of refrigerant on the valve proper 62. Preferably, the chamber I4 is cylindrical in shape and also, preferably, the weight 12 is provided with a plurality of arcuate portions 16 which conform to the contour of the walls of the chamber. The weight 12 is also provided with cutaway flat portions I8 between the arcuate portions 15 to provide spaces between the walls of the chamber and the weight so as to prevent binding of the weight in the chamber, and also to prevent a dash pot action therein. When the pressure of refrigerant in the supply conduit 35 reaches a'predetermined point, the liquid refrigerant therein will move the valve proper 82 and weight I2 upwardly to allow liquid refrigerant to enter the chamber 14, whence it passes through the outlet 68 into the evaporator 32. When the pressure recedes to a predetermined point, the weight and valve proper move downwardly to cause the valve 62 to engage itself with seat 64 to prevent further passage of liquid refrigerant into the evaporator. This weighted valve is arranged to be intermittently operated so as to maintain the pressures within the supply conduit 35 at a point above that which would permit refrigeration taking place in the supply conduit 35. The pressures in conduit 35 are, however, below the pressures in the high pressure part of the system or condensing element, butabove that which permits the collection of frost on said conduit. If desired, the portion of conduit 35 in machine compartment 21 may be insulated to avold'any possibility of the collection of moisture thereon, due to the high temperature in said compartment. Also, if desired, the conduits I5 and 31 may be secured together throughout their passage through the insulated walls of compartment 2i so that the conduit 35 will be in engagement with the relatively colder conduit 31' to prevent collection of moisture about either of said conduits. Y

Fig. 4 shows a refrigerating system which is similar to the system shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 and includes a refrigerant evaporating element 52, which corresponds to the evaporating-element 32, and a refrigerant condensing element 83,

which corresponds to the refrigerating condensing element 53. Liquid refrigerant is supplied from the condensing element 83 to the evaporating element 82 under the control of a high side float 85 or restrictor, which corresponds to the high side float 55. In this refrigerating system, I have provided a valve mechanismor restrictor 80 for controlling the pressures within a supply conduit 9 l Valve mechanism 90 includes a casing 82, a spherical shaped member or ball 94, which constitutes the valve proper, and a valve seat 85 which cooperates with the valve proper 84 to control the passage of refrigerant from the casing 92 to the evaporator 82. In this embodiment of my invention, I have provided a spring 81 for returning the valve 94 to its seat 85 when the pressure of refrigerant in the supply conduit 8| falls to a predetermined low value.

Fig. 5 shows a system in which Ill designates a refrigerant evaporating element, which corresponds to the evaporating elements 32 and 82; I02 designates a condensing element, which corresponds to the refrigerant condensing elements 33 and 85. Liquid refrigerant issupplied from the condensing element I02 to the evaporating element I00 through a supply conduit I under the control of a high side float mechanism or restrietor I05, which corresponds to the high side float mechanism 55 and 85. In this modified form of the invention, I have provided a capillary tube or restrictor H0 which is connected to one end of the supply conduit Ill and to the inlet end of the evaporator I" to provide for the continuous flow of liquid refrigerant from the supply conduit llll to the evaporator llli. However, the capillary tube H0 is of such a small cross sectional area that the pressures in the conduit I are maintained sufllciently high enough to prevent refrigeration from taking place within the* supply conduit I.

Each of the refrigerating systems which I have disclosed in Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5 are suitable for installation in a refrigerator cabinet with the high side float mechanism located outside of the food storage compartment and, as shown in Fig. 1, the high side float mechanism 55 is located in the machine compartment 21. The systems shown in Figs. 4 and 5 may be located in a refrigerator cabinet 20 in the same manner as the system shown in Fig. 1 is disposed therein. I

From the foregoing description, it will readily be apparent that I have provided a refrigerating system of the compression type in which the flow of liquid refrigerant is controlled by a pressure reducing valve located at a point remote from the evaporating element and at the same time no refrigeration takes place except within the evaporating element, owing to the pressure responsive valve mechanisms or capillary tubes, which control the pressures within the liquid supply conduits. This arrangement is particularly advantageous in installations where it is desirable to locate the float mechanism or pressure reducing valves outside of the food storage compartment, since no refrigeration takes place except in the evaporating element. It will also 'be noted from the foregoing that the provision of the valves or 50 or the capillary tube H0 provides a refrigerating system with a high pressure portion, a low pressure portion and a portion wherein the pressures are intermediate of the high pressure portions and the low pressure portions. Thus, the high side float or restrictor restricts the flow of liquid refrigerant at all times during .op-

eration of the system and so do the valves II and 90 and capillary tube Ill.

In addition to the above, it will be noted that with my invention liquid refrigerant may be conducted to various evaporators located a long distance away from the float mechanism without loss of refrigeration. It will also be apparent that any number of refrigerant evaporators may be connected to one float valve mechanism and the said evaporators may be located at any desired place simply by connecting the various liquid supply conduits to a common feed pipe associated with the float valve mechanism.

Although only a preferred form of the invention has been illustrated, and that form described in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a mechanical refrigerating apparatus, the combination of a refrigerant liquefylng means including a refrigerant condenser, a refrigerant evaporator having an inlet and an outlet, means for interchanging heat between the refrigerant entering the evaporator and that leaving the evaporator, a first restrictor between the condenser and the interchanging means, a second restrictor between the interchanging means and the evaporator, and a liquid and gaseous refrigerant reservoir at the top of the evaporator adiacent the outlet.

2. A refrigerating system comprising, a refrigerant condensing element, a refrigerant evaporating element, a conduit for conducting refrigerant from the condensing element to the evapo rating element, control means for controlling the flow of refrigerant through said conduit, a pressure controlling device in said conduit and means for cooling the refrigerant in said conduit as the refrigerant passes from said control means to said pressure controlling device.

3. In a refrigerating system, the combination of a refrigerant evaporator, a remotely disposed refrigerant compressor condenser unit for drawing refrigerant vapor from said evaporator, condensing the same, and supplying liquefied refrigerant thereto, means for operatively interconnecting said evaporator and said unit to condense entrained vapor and to prevent vaporization of liquid refrigerant passing from the unit to the evaporator comprising a suction line for drawing refrigerant vapor from said evaporator and a refrigerant line in intimate thermal coupled relation therewith for passing liquefied refrigerant from the unit to the evaporator, refrigerant flow controlling means connected between the unit and the refrigerant line and additional refrigerant flow controlling means connected between the refrigerant line and the evaporator whereby predetermined conditions of pressure and temperature are maintained in the refrigerant line.

4. In a refrigerating system, the combination of a refrigerant evaporator, a remotely disposed refrigerant compressor condenser unit for drawing refrigerant vapor from said evaporator, condensing the same, and supplying liequefled refrigerant thereto, means for operatively interconnecting said evaporator and said unit to condense entrained vapor and to prevent vaporization of liquid refrigerant passing from the unit to the evaporator comprising a. suction line for drawing refrigerant vapor from said evaporator and a refrigerant line in intimate thermal coupled relation therewith for passing liquefied refrigerant from the unit to the evaporator, a high side float type expansion valve connected between the unit and the refrigerant line, and a. capillary flow restricting tube connected between the refrigerant line and the evaporator, whereby predetermined conditions of pressure and temperature are maintained in the refrigerant line.

5. In a refrigerating system, the combination of a refrigerant evaporator, a refrigerant compressor condenser unit for drawing refrigerant vapor from said evaporator, condensing the same, and supplying liquefied refrigerant thereto, heat exchanging means for operatively interconnecting said evaporator and said unit comprising vapor conduit means for passing refrigerant vapor from the evaporator to said unit, and thermally coupled refrigerant conduit means for passing liquefied refrigerant from said unit to said evaporator whereby the cold refrigerant vapor is utilized to precool the liquid refrigerant, flow controlling means in said refrigerant conduit means for maintaining an intermediate pressure therein, said heat exchanging means and said flow controlling means being so selected or adjusted that suitable pressure and temperature conditions are provided to prevent vaporization of the refrigerant in said refrigerant conduit means.

6. In a mechanical refrigerating system, the combination of a refrigerant compressor, a refrigerant condenser exposed .to environment air where its condensing function is influenced by changes in environment temperature, an evaporator, liquid supply means connected in the system between the condenser and the evaporator for progressively reducing the pressure of the refrigerant passing to the evaporator while maintaining the pressure of the refrigerant above the pressure in the evaporator throughout normal operation of the system to aid in passing liquid refrigerant only to the evaporator, and vapor condult means positioned in intimate thermal coupled relation with a portion of said liquid supply means for interchanging heat between the liquid refrigerant entering the evaporator and the vaporized refrigerant leaving the evaporator.

Lawmmcs A. PHILIPP.

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