Fluid handling – Systems – Multi-way valve unit
Patent
1999-02-02
2000-12-26
Fox, John
Fluid handling
Systems
Multi-way valve unit
F16K 1100
Patent
active
061643319
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a channel-switching valve used for switching refrigerant channels depending on the operation mode in a heat-pump type air conditioner, a method of controlling such a channel-switching valve, a refrigerating cycle whose refrigerant channels are switched depending on the operation mode in a heat-pump type air conditioner, and a method of controlling such a refrigerating cycle.
2. Related Art
In an air conditioner, refrigerant channels in the refrigerant cycle are switched by a channel-switching valve when the operation mode is switched.
A typical channel-switching valve is a four-way valve, and conventional types of four-way valve include a sliding type and a rotary type.
A sliding four-way valve comprises a cylinder having a high pressure port to which a high pressure channel communicating with the outlet of the compressor is connected, a low pressure port to which a low pressure port communicating with the inlet of the compressor is connected, and two switching ports to which a switching channel communicating with an indoor heat exchanger and a switching channel communicating with an outdoor heat exchanger are connected, and a piston disposed inside the cylinder.
The piston includes a valve element which forms two connecting spaces isolated from each other inside the cylinder.
With such a sliding four-way valve, the two connecting spaces are displaced as the piston reciprocates between a first position and a second position inside the cylinder.
When the piston is in the first position, one of the two switching ports is connected to the high pressure port via one of the two connecting spaces formed by the valve element inside the cylinder, and the other one of the two switching ports is connected to the low pressure port via the other one of the two connecting spaces, thereby switching the operation mode to one of a cooling mode and a heating mode.
Meanwhile, when the piston is in the second position, the one of the switching port is connected to the low pressure port via the one of the connecting space inside the cylinder, while the other one of the switching ports is connected to the high pressure port via the other one of the connecting spaces inside the cylinder, thereby switching the operation mode to the other one of the cooling mode and the heating mode.
Whether the piston is either in the first position or in the second position in the sliding four-way valve, two pressure adjusting spaces are formed on both sides of the piston in its moving direction inside the cylinder. Each of the pressure adjusting spaces is connected to one of the two connecting spaces via a narrow equalizer channel.
One of the two pressure adjusting spaces is selectively connected to the low pressure channel via a pilot path by an open pilot valve, without going through the cylinder.
In the sliding four-way valve, the pressures in the two pressure adjusting spaces are reversed by changing the state of the pilot valve, so that the piston can be moved from the first position to the second position, or from the second position to the first position.
At this point, one of the connecting spaces is connected to the outlet of the compressor via the high pressure port and the high pressure channel, and resultantly filled with the high pressure fluid.
The other one of the connecting spaces is connected to the inlet of the compressor via the low pressure port and the low pressure channel, and thus filled with the low pressure fluid.
In order to defrost the outdoor heat exchanger in the heating mode, the four-way valve is switched so as to switch the operation mode of the refrigerating cycle from the heating mode to the defrosting mode. When switching the refrigerating cycle from the defrosting mode to the heating mode after the defrosting operation, the four-way valve is switched, because the defrosting operation is substantially the same as the cooling operation.
With the conventional sliding four-way valve described above, however, there is a proble
REFERENCES:
patent: 2693930 (1954-11-01), Carter
patent: 5690144 (1997-11-01), Takahashi
patent: 5937902 (1999-08-01), Ohno et al.
patent: 5992459 (1999-11-01), Sugita et al.
Aoki Tadashi
Nakagawa Noboru
Sugita Mitsuo
Teranishi Toshihiro
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