Refrigeration – Refrigeration producer – Evaporator – e.g. – heat exchanger
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-09
2001-02-13
Doerrler, William (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Refrigeration producer
Evaporator, e.g., heat exchanger
C062S475000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06185959
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not Applicable.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not Applicable.
MICROFICHE APPENDIX
Not Applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to refrigerant systems of the type circulating high pressure refrigerant from a compressor through a condenser and expansion device, such as a thermal expansion valve, to an evaporator for absorption of heat vaporization and return to the compressor inlet. The present invention relates particularly to such refrigerant systems employed for air conditioning the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle.
In the design and manufacture of air conditioning systems for motor vehicles, it has been found difficult to provide suitable conduit connections between the various system components such as the evaporator, condenser and compressor during final assembly of the vehicle particularly in high volume, mass production, as is the case for passenger cars and light truck vehicles. In mass production of such systems, problems have been encountered with leakage of the refrigerant, particularly on the high pressure side of the system between the compressor and the expansion device.
In mass production of motor vehicles with air conditioning systems, it is desired to have quick-connect type fittings for attachment of the hoses and tubes to compressor, condenser and evaporator in order to eliminate the need for the use of tools and time consuming operations during assembly to thereby minimize the manufacturing costs of the vehicle. Heretofore, automotive air conditioning systems employing block type thermal expansion valves as the expansion device have utilized ported header blocks with the tubes welded or mechanically attached thereto prior to assembly, which blocks are subsequently attached to the expansion valve body with o-ring seals about the ports. This type of connection requires mechanical fasteners such as bolts threaded into the valve block for attachment of the header block thereto; and, can be extremely difficult to attach when the expansion valve is located near the engine compartment bulkhead or fire wall. This location for the expansion valve is often chosen to shorten the length of conduits between the expansion device and the evaporator or endothermic heat exchanger located within the passenger compartment. In many passenger and light truck motor vehicles it is difficult for personnel on the vehicle assembly line to attach the conduits to the expansion valve because of tight clearances between the surrounding vehicle components within the engine compartment.
Thus, it has been desired to provide a way or means of connecting vehicle air conditioning system conduits to an expansion valve and providing for mounting of the expansion valve in such a manner as to reduce the cost of the system assembly in vehicle production, to render the assembly operations easily accessible by the vehicle assembly personnel and to provide for seal integrity of the refrigerant circulating through the system.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a way or means of reducing the number of conduit connections between the various system components in a refrigeration system, particularly an air conditioning system for the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle where the compressor is mounted on the vehicle engine and the evaporator is mounted within the passenger compartment.
The present invention provides for a motor vehicle air conditioning system employing a thermal expansion valve for controlling flow of the refrigerant from the condenser to the evaporator and provides for improved connections between the thermal expansion valve and the remaining system components such as the compressor, condenser and evaporator.
The present invention provides a pre-assembled, precalibrated thermal expansion valve cartridge which is assembled into a valve block after attachments of conduits to the valve block thereby permitting attachment of such conduits to the block by weldment.
The present invention provides in one embodiment, the valve block of the thermal expansion valve formed integrally with the header of a filter/drier and may have the condenser line connection and the evaporator line connection formed through the header, with a flow-through passage from the evaporator to the compressor inlet formed through the valve block, or alternatively may have all four ports formed directly in the valve block. In another embodiment, the valve block has one end of a metal tube for connection to the condenser attached to the valve block by weldment; and, one end of a tube for connection to the compressor inlet attached to the valve block by weldment. This arrangement thus allows attachment of the tubes by welding and assembly of the precalibrated cartridge valve into the valve block after weldment thereby eliminating exposure of the thermal expansion valve to the elevated temperatures experienced during welding.
The present invention thus provides a unique and novel technique for installing a thermal expansion valve in an air conditioning system for a motor vehicle in a manner which improves the integrity of the refrigerant line seals, reduces the number of connections and minimizes the manufacturing costs.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3525234 (1970-08-01), Widdowson
patent: 3962884 (1976-06-01), Widdowson
patent: 3965693 (1976-06-01), Widdowson
patent: 4756166 (1988-07-01), Tomasov
patent: 5331827 (1994-07-01), Chelbak
patent: 5454233 (1995-10-01), Naujock
patent: 5515696 (1996-05-01), Hutchison
patent: 5799499 (1998-09-01), Yano et al.
Doerrler William
Eaton Corporation
Johnston Roger A.
Jones Mel
LandOfFree
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