Refrigeration – Automatic control – Selective heating or cooling
Reexamination Certificate
2001-01-02
2004-02-03
Wayner, William (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Automatic control
Selective heating or cooling
C062S324600, C137S625430, C236S08000G
Reexamination Certificate
active
06684651
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a channel selector valve and, more specifically, to a channel selector valve, which is used to reverse channels for fluid discharged from a compressor and for fluid sucked into the compressor, and to a device for controlling a refrigerating cycle.
BACKGROUND ART
In general, as to an air conditioner for both cooling and heating, a four-way selector valve selects a circulating direction of a refrigerant in such a manner that upon cooling the refrigerant flows from a compressor, by way of an outdoor heat exchanger, a throttle valve and an indoor heat exchanger, then flows back to the compressor, and that upon heating the refrigerant flows from a compressor, by way of an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle valve and an outdoor heat exchanger, then flows back to the compressor.
The four-way selector valve, used for selecting a circulating direction of a refrigerant in a refrigerating cycle described above, includes the so-called sliding-type four-way selector valve.
As to the sliding-type four-way selector valve, a valve element is moved inside the valve housing so that one port, communicating with an inlet through a space formed inside the valve element, is switched from a first port to a second port out of the two ports and simultaneously that another port, communicating with an outlet through a space formed outside the valve element, is switched from the second port to the first port out of the two ports.
As disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. S35-12689 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. S55-53825, as to a conventional four-way selector valve, a magnet coil formed outside of the valve housing is provided with electricity so as to selectively decompress either valve chamber between two valve chambers disposed at both sides of a central valve chamber, out of three valve chambers in the valve housing, then the valve element placed in the central valve chamber is slided due to the differential pressure generated between the decompressed valve chamber and the central valve chamber.
In Japanese Patent Publication No. H7-99296, there is disclosed a five-way valve, in which a valve element in a valve chamber is slided with the aid of a plunger of a magnet coil inserted in a valve housing, with supplying electricity to the magnet coil disposed outside the valve housing.
As a conventional art similar to the above four or five-way valve, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. S58-42465, there is disclosed a four-way selector valve, in which with supplying electricity to heaters in operation chambers formed both sides of a valve housing, two operation rods, each inserted from the respective operation chamber into the valve housing, are alternately slided so that a valve element in the valve housing is slided. Every conventional four or five-way valve mentioned above needs electricity to be supplied to a magnet coil upon selecting by the valve, consequently, there has been a room for improvement in these valves from the viewpoints of prevention of the environmental pollution and energy saving.
Besides the four or five-way valves, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. H3-119689, there is disclosed a four-way selector valve, in which wax thermoelements are disposed at both sides of a valve housing instead of a magnet coil, and with supplying electricity to heaters of the wax thermoelements, a valve element in the valve housing is slided with the aid of a shaft, inserted from the outside of the valve housing into the inside thereof.
In Japanese Patent No. 2757997, there is disclosed a four-way selector valve, in which a pair of differential pressure chambers partitioned by partition wall plates is formed at respective sides of a valve chamber in a valve housing so that each differential pressure chamber can selectively communicate with the valve chamber by switching a substitute valve formed on the respective partition wall plate, and a constant-temperature heater of each slow operation element disposed at both sides of the valve housing is supplied with electricity so that each operation shaft inserted from the respective side of the valve housing into the respective differential pressure chamber is slided. In this four-way selector valve, the constant-temperature heater of each slow operation element is supplied with electricity so as to slide each operation shaft and to open either substitute valve, thereby both partition wall plates slide within the valve housing together with the valve element in such a manner that the partition wall plates move nearer to the opened substitute valve.
Each conventional four-way selector valve mentioned above does not employ a magnet coil, however, needs electricity to be supplied to the heaters in order to operate the switching valve, consequently, there has been a room for improvement in these valves similarly to the aforementioned conventional four or five-way valve.
On the other hand, as to a four-way selector valve disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. H7-43188, although a valve element is slided by supplying electricity to a magnet coil, a permanent magnet attracts the slided valve element so that a position of the valve element after supplying electricity is maintained, thereby saving a further supply of electricity to the magnet coil, then only a tentative electrical supply is performed to another magnet coil for demagnetization when the valve element is moved from the slided position back to an original position before the slide.
As to a four-way selector valve disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H9-72633, a position of a valve element after slide is maintained by an intermittent electrical supply to a magnet coil, in the four-way selector valve that is similar to one described in Japanese Patent Publication No. S35-12689.
Since each four-way selector valve, disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. H7-43188 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H9-72633, does not need a continuous electrical supply to the magnet coil, it has some effect from the viewpoints of prevention of the environmental pollution and energy saving.
Certainly, the four-way selector valve, disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. H7-43188 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H9-72633, restricts an amount of electrical supply to the magnet coil, however, it still needs some amount of electrical supply. Therefore, from the viewpoints of a vigorous promotion with respect to prevention of the environmental pollution and energy saving, there has been a room for further improvement in the valves described above.
Therefore, as to a selecting operation of a channel selector valve for fluid, such as a four-way selector valve, which is provided in a refrigerating cycle, it is an objective of the present invention to solve the above problems and to provide a channel selector valve that can effectively contribute for prevention of the environmental pollution and energy saving, a method of driving the channel selector valve, a compressor that works excellently with using the channel selector valve, and a device for controlling a refrigerating cycle.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
In order to attain the above objective, embodiments of the present invention relate to a channel selector valve, a method of driving the channel selector valve, a compressor with the channel selector valve, and a device for controlling a refrigerating cycle.
The present invention provides a channel selector valve for selecting a channel of fluid characterized in that the channel is selected by employing non-electric motive power generated when a control section controls a physical quantity of the fluid.
According to one embodiment of the present invention a drive source provided separately from the channel selector valve generates non-electric motive power, by which the channel is passively selected.
According to another embodiment of the present invention the drive source comprises at least one of element components in a refrigerating cycle having a channel selector valve and the ch
Aoki Tadashi
Ito Hiroshi
Kiuchi Nobuyuki
Kubota Shigeru
Nakahara Seiichi
Kabushiki Kaisha Saginomiya Seisakusho
Long Butzel
Wayner William
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