Refrigeration – Reversible – i.e. – heat pump – External fluid flow reversed
Patent
1992-10-29
1994-05-31
Sollecito, John M.
Refrigeration
Reversible, i.e., heat pump
External fluid flow reversed
62499, F25B 2900
Patent
active
053158440
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a heating or cooling apparatus. The apparatus is suitable for use in an air conditioning system.
Air conditioning apparatus is used in a wide range of situations, such as in buildings and large vehicles, for cooling or warming the ambient air to a comfortable temperature. Such apparatus generally includes a heating and cooling apparatus which warms the ambient air during cool weather, and extracts heat from the ambient air when the weather is hot and cooling is required.
Most known air conditioning apparatus is manufactured as separate units, such as compressors, evaporators, condensers and so on, which are connected together in situ. The resulting apparatus is expensive, making it unsuitable for many domestic premises, and being large and complicated, is difficult to install in small vehicles. Further, because the apparatus has many parts, it requires frequent maintenance and tends not to be very reliable. There is therefore a need for a heating or cooling apparatus suitable for use in an air conditioning system, which is small and light, and inexpensive to manufacture and install.
According to the present invention there is provided a heating or cooling apparatus including a heat pump comprising a compressor, a radiator portion, an expansion valve and a cooling portion, the heat pump being constructed in the form of a thin rotatable wheel wherein the cooling portion forms a radially inner portion of the wheel and the radiator portion forms a radially outer portion of the wheel, the wheel having a plurality of fins which, when the wheel rotates, drive streams of air over the cooling portion and the radiator portion, and a housing enclosing the wheel and having means for separating the streams of air and directing them in desired directions.
A thin wheel is one in which the thickness of the wheel is less than half its diameter. Advantageously, the thickness of the wheel is less than one quarter of its diameter, and in the embodiment shown in the drawings, the wheel's thickness is less than one eighth its diameter.
The apparatus is very compact and light, allowing it to be installed easily in domestic buildings and small vehicles. The apparatus is completely self-contained, requiring only an external power supply, and it is therefore easy and cheap to install. The apparatus also has very few moving parts and it is therefore reliable, inexpensive to manufacture and easy to maintain. The wheel includes all the components of the heat pump, and can be manufactured as a sealed, maintenance-free unit.
Advantageously, the compressor is driven by rotation of the wheel, thereby avoiding the need for separate drive means. Preferably, the compressor is arranged at the periphery of the wheel and is driven via a fixed eccentric element at the centre of the wheel. The eccentric element may be a cam, a crank or any other equivalent mechanical device.
Advantageously, the compressor comprises a cylinder having a piston mounted for reciprocating movement therewithin.
Advantageously, the wheel includes a plurality of compressors, spaced equi-angularly about the periphery of the wheel, and the compressors are preferably connected to a common cooling portion and a common radiator portion. By increasing the number of compressors, the power of the heat pump can be increased without increasing the size of the apparatus. Spacing the compressors equi-angularly around the periphery of the wheel and connecting them to a common cooling portion and a common radiator portion helps to ensure that vibrations are not caused in the wheel as it rotates.
Advantageously, the radiator portion comprises a condenser means and the cooling potion comprises an evaporator means.
Advantageously, the housing has first inlet and outlet vents, second inlet and outlet vents, and a guide means adjustable between a first position in which air passing over the cooling portion of the wheel is caused to flow through the first vents and air passing over the radiator portion is caused to flow through the second vents, and a second
REFERENCES:
patent: 3389577 (1968-06-01), Kemp
patent: 3623332 (1971-11-01), Fernandes
patent: 4726198 (1988-02-01), Ouwenga
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