Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
062149000 | Withdrawing or adding refrigerant from or to normally closed system | 29 |
20080202134 | Algorithm for activation of directed relief system from vehicle accelerometers during crash - A method of venting a refrigerant from an air conditioning system of a vehicle during a crash to mitigate leakage of the refrigerant into a cabin of the vehicle by crashing a test vehicle under a first set of predetermined conditions a number of crash events and measuring deceleration and determining the existence of leakage. The number of crash events in which leakage existed is divided by the number of crash events to establish a probability of leakage ratio. The test vehicle is crashed under a second set of predetermined conditions to determine a second probability of leakage ratio. A probability of leakage relationship is established correlating the probability of leakage ratios and the predetermined conditions. A deceleration relationship is established correlating the deceleration measurements and the predetermined conditions. A deceleration of the vehicle is sensed to determine a probability of leakage from the probability of leakage relationship and the refrigerant is vented in response to the probability of leakage exceeding a predetermined threshold. | 08-28-2008 |
20080276634 | Refrigerant recovery apparatus with variable vacuum time and method - A recovery apparatus, system and method, including a compressor to evacuate a gas or liquid from a system during a first phase and a second phase of a recovery process, and a vacuum pump to evacuate the gas or liquid during the second phase. A memory stores one or more correlation relations to determine a predetermined second variable recovery time for the second phase to evacuate the system to a second predetermined level related to a first recovery time to evacuate the vessel or system to a first predetermined level during the first phase, and a processor to determine the second variable recovery time, based on the one or more correlation relations and the first recovery time, and selectively control the compressor and the vacuum pump to evacuate the gas or liquid from the vessel or system to the first and second predetermined levels. | 11-13-2008 |
20090044550 | AIR CONDITIONER - An error in judgment due to the difference in the temperature of the refrigerant at an outlet of a condenser is reduced when judging the adequacy of the refrigerant quantity. An air conditioner ( | 02-19-2009 |
20090044551 | AIR CONDITIONER - An air conditioner that adjusts the temperature in a target space includes a refrigerant circuit and a controller. The refrigerant circuit is configured by the interconnection of a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, indoor expansion valves, and indoor heat exchangers. The controller adjusts the temperature such that predetermined temperature is reached in a target space. In addition, the controller judges the refrigerant quantity in the refrigerant circuit based on at least one value of operation state quantity of constituent equipment or refrigerant flowing in the refrigerant circuit. The controller achieves a state in which the target space temperature satisfies a predetermined temperature condition. | 02-19-2009 |
20090049848 | Air Conditioning System for a Motor Vehicle and Method for its Operation - In an air-conditioning system ( | 02-26-2009 |
20090095000 | AIR CONDITIONER - An air conditioner includes a refrigerant circuit configured by the interconnection of a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an indoor expansion valve, and an indoor heat exchanger; an operation controlling means capable of performing a refrigerant quantity judging operation to control constituent equipment such that the refrigerant circulation flow rate that is the refrigerant quantity circulating in the refrigerant circuit becomes constant; and a refrigerant quantity judging means that judges the adequacy of the refrigerant quantity in the refrigerant circuit using an operation state quantity of constituent equipment or refrigerant flowing in the refrigerant circuit during the refrigerant quantity judging operation. | 04-16-2009 |
20090100849 | AIR CONDITIONER - An air conditioner includes a pipe volume calculating section and a refrigerant circuit configured by the interconnection of a heat source unit and a utilization unit via a refrigerant communication pipe. The pipe volume calculating section calculates the volume of the refrigerant communication pipe based on an additional charging quantity which is a refrigerant quantity to be additionally charged after the refrigerant circuit is configured by interconnecting the heat source unit and the utilization unit via the refrigerant communication pipe. | 04-23-2009 |
20090107157 | REFRIGERANT LEAK-DETECTION SYSTEMS - A refrigerant leak-detection system is provided to monitor a level of refrigerant/refrigerant by-products in ambient air in a closed/semi-closed ventilated environment enclosing a refrigeration unit. The system comprises a sensor positioned in the ventilated environment to measure a level of refrigerant/refrigerant by-products in the ambient air, and a detection controller to receive signals associated with the level of refrigerant/refrigerant by-products in the ambient air and to perform an action as a function of the signals. The detection controller stops a ventilation unit for given periods of time to allow the sensor to measure the level of refrigerant/refrigerant by-products in the ambient air during the given periods of time. A method for monitoring the level of refrigerant/refrigerant by-products in ambient air in a closed/semi-closed ventilated environment enclosing a refrigeration unit is also provided. | 04-30-2009 |
20090126379 | AIR CONDITIONER - An air conditioner includes a refrigerant circuit, a refrigerant quantity calculating section, and a refrigerant quantity judging section. The refrigerant circuit is configured by the interconnection of a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, and an indoor heat exchanger. The refrigerant quantity calculating section uses a relational expression between the refrigerant quantity in each portion of the refrigerant circuit when the refrigerant circuit is divided into a plurality of portions and an operation state quantity of constituent equipment or refrigerant flowing in the refrigerant circuit in order to calculate the refrigerant quantity in each portion from the operation state quantity of constituent equipment or refrigerant flowing in the refrigerant circuit. The refrigerant quantity judging section uses the refrigerant quantity in each portion calculated by the refrigerant quantity calculating section in order to judge the adequacy of the refrigerant quantity in the refrigerant circuit. | 05-21-2009 |
20090126380 | AIR CONDITIONER - An air conditioner includes a refrigerant circuit, an operation controlling section, a stability judging section, a refrigerant quantity judging section, and a condition changing section. The operation controlling section is capable of performing a refrigerant quantity judging operation to control constituent equipment to reach a predetermined target control value. The stability judging section judges whether or not the refrigerant quantity judging operation has stabilized. The refrigerant quantity judging section judges the adequacy of the refrigerant quantity in the refrigerant circuit by using an operation state quantity of constituent equipment or refrigerant flowing in the refrigerant circuit when it is judged that the refrigerant quantity judging operation has stabilized. The condition changing section changes the target control value in the refrigerant quantity judging operation when it is judged that the refrigerant quantity judging operation has not stabilized. | 05-21-2009 |
20090145143 | BACKGROUND TANK FILL BASED ON REFRIGERANT COMPOSITION - A portable recovery unit for automatically filling a background tank of blended refrigerant includes a main tank for holding recovered refrigerant from a vehicle A/C system which has a first chemical composition, and an auxiliary tank for holding an auxiliary supply of fresh refrigerant which has a second refrigerant composition. The auxiliary tank is arranged in fluid communication with the main tank so that fluid can be transferred from the auxiliary tank to the main tank. An electronic controller controls the flow of fluid from the auxiliary tank to the main tank. A refrigerant identifier is coupled to the main tank to sample and analyze the refrigerant in the main tank in order to determine the chemical composition of the refrigerant in the main tank, so the refrigerant in the main tank can be purified to an acceptable level based on that analysis. | 06-11-2009 |
20090255284 | AIR CONDITIONER - A refrigerant circuit and an operation control means are provided. A refrigerant circuit is configured by the interconnection of a heat source unit, a plurality of utilization units, and expansion mechanisms. The heat source unit has a compressor and a heat source side heat exchanger. The utilization units have utilization side heat exchangers. The operation control means is capable of performing a refrigerant quantity judging operation to control constituent equipment such that a first state value becomes a first target control value. In addition, during the refrigerant quantity judging operation, the operation control means maintains a cooling capacity of a first utilization unit among the plurality of utilization units, which air conditions a predetermined space. | 10-15-2009 |
20090260376 | AIR CONDITIONER - An air conditioner includes a refrigerant circuit, a refrigerant quantity calculating section, and a refrigerant quantity judging section. The refrigerant circuit includes a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an indoor expansion valve, and an indoor heat exchanger interconnected together. The refrigerant quantity calculating section calculates the refrigerant quantity in the refrigerant circuit taking into account a dissolved refrigerant quantity that is the quantity of refrigerant dissolved in the refrigerating machine oil in the compressor, based on an operation state quantity of constituent equipment or refrigerant flowing in the refrigerant circuit. The refrigerant quantity judging section judges the adequacy of the refrigerant quantity in the refrigerant circuit based on the refrigerant quantity calculated by the refrigerant quantity calculating section. In addition, the refrigerant quantity calculating section calculates the dissolved refrigerant quantity based on operation state quantities that include at least the ambient temperature outside the compressor. | 10-22-2009 |
20090272135 | AIR CONDITIONER - An air conditioner refrigerant circuit performs a cooling operation in which an outdoor heat exchanger functions as a condenser of the refrigerant compressed in a compressor and an indoor heat exchanger functions as an evaporator of the refrigerant condensed in the outdoor heat exchanger. Further, an outdoor expansion valve is disposed at a position that is at once downstream of the outdoor heat exchanger and upstream of a liquid refrigerant communication pipe in the refrigerant flow direction in the refrigerant circuit in the cooling operation, and shuts off the refrigerant flow. A refrigerant detection unit is disposed upstream of the outdoor expansion valve and detects the amount or the amount-related value of refrigerant accumulated upstream of the outdoor expansion valve. | 11-05-2009 |
20090308088 | AIR CONDITIONER - An air conditioner is provided with a refrigerant circuit and an operation controller. The refrigerant circuit includes a heat source unit, a refrigerant communication pipe, an expansion mechanism, and a utilization unit. The heat source unit has a compression mechanism and a heat source side heat exchanger. The heat source unit is connected to the refrigerant communication pipe. The utilization unit has a utilization side heat exchanger and is connected to the refrigerant gas communication pipe. The operation controller performs an oil-return operation in advance for returning oil pooled in the refrigerant circuit when a refrigerant quantity judging operation is carried out for judging the refrigerant quantity inside the refrigerant circuit. | 12-17-2009 |
20090314017 | AIR CONDITIONER - An air conditioner is provided with a refrigerant circuit, refrigerant stagnation judging means, and an operation controller. The refrigerant circuit is a circuit that includes a heat source unit, a refrigerant communication pipe, an expansion mechanism, and a utilization unit. A heat source unit and a utilization unit are connected to the refrigerant fluid communication pipes. The heat source unit has a compression mechanism and a heat source side heat exchanger. The refrigerant stagnation judging means can judge whether the refrigerant has stagnated inside the compression mechanism. The operation controller performs a refrigerant de-stagnation operation for eliminating stagnation of the refrigerant in the case that the refrigerant stagnation judging means has judged in advance that the refrigerant inside the compression mechanism has stagnated when a refrigerant quantity judging operation is carried out for judging the refrigerant quantity inside the refrigerant circuit. | 12-24-2009 |
20100107665 | REFRIGERATING APPARATUS - To a refrigerant circuit ( | 05-06-2010 |
20100154447 | AIR CONDITIONER - An air conditioner performs a refrigerant quantity judging operation to judge the refrigerant quantity in a refrigerant circuit, and includes a heat source unit, utilization units, expansion mechanisms, a first refrigerant gas pipe, a second refrigerant gas pipe, a refrigerant liquid pipe, switching mechanisms, temperature detecting means, and a controller. The heat source unit includes a compression means and a heat source side heat exchanger. The first refrigerant gas pipe is connected to the discharge side of the compression means. The switching mechanism can switch between a first state and a second state. The temperature detecting means are mounted on the first refrigerant gas pipe, and configured to detect a refrigerant temperature on the first refrigerant gas pipe side and output a refrigerant temperature detection value. The controller corrects the refrigerant quantity judged by a refrigerant quantity judging operation based on the refrigerant temperature detection value. | 06-24-2010 |
20100223940 | AIR CONDITIONER - An air conditioner is provided that is capable of allowing an operator to know, during a refrigerant charging operation using a cylinder, that the refrigerant cylinder is emptied without using a scale or the like. An air conditioner in which the refrigerant is charged using a cylinder containing the refrigerant includes a refrigerant circuit, a charge port, a downstream temperature sensor, an outdoor side controller, and a display unit. The refrigerant circuit is configured by the interconnection of a compressor, an outdoor side heat exchanger, an indoor side expansion valve, and an indoor side heat exchanger. The charge port is a port for charging the refrigerant into the refrigerant circuit from the cylinder. The downstream temperature sensor is provided in the vicinity of the charge port of the refrigerant circuit. The outdoor side controller judges whether or not the cylinder is emptied based on a change in at least one of a temperature detected by the downstream temperature sensor or a superheating degree. The display unit performs output when it is judged by the outdoor side controller that the cylinder is emptied. | 09-09-2010 |
20100275626 | AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS AND REFRIGERANT QUANTITY DETERMINATION METHOD - An air conditioning apparatus includes a refrigerant circuit, first and second shut-off mechanisms, a communication pipe and a refrigerant detection mechanism. The refrigerant circuit is configured to at least perform a cooling operation. The first shut-off mechanism is downstream of the receiver and upstream of the liquid refrigerant connection pipe when the cooling operation is performed. The second shut-off mechanism is downstream of the heat source-side heat exchanger and upstream of the receiver when the cooling operation is performed. The communication pipe interconnects the refrigerant circuit between the first and second shut-off mechanisms, and the refrigerant circuit on the suction side of the compressor. The refrigerant detection mechanism is upstream of the second shut-off mechanism when the cooling operation is performed. The refrigerant detection mechanism is configured to detect a state quantity relating to the quantity of the refrigerant existing on the upstream side of the second shut-off mechanism. | 11-04-2010 |
20100293975 | AIR CONDITIONER - An air conditioner includes a compressor, first and second heat exchangers connected with high pressure piping, low pressure piping connecting the second heat exchanger to a compressor suction port, a pressure reducing mechanism arranged to reduce pressure in the high pressure piping, a bypass passageway, a vessel connected to the bypass passageway, and first and second opening/closing mechanisms. The first heat exchanger is connected to a compressor discharge port. The bypass passageway is arranged to divert refrigerant from the high pressure piping to the low pressure piping without passing through the second heat exchanger. The first opening/closing mechanism is arranged to open/close a first portion of the bypass passageway that connects the high pressure piping to the vessel. The second opening/closing mechanism is arranged to open/close a second portion of the bypass passageway that connects an upper part of the vessel to the low pressure piping. | 11-25-2010 |
20110056223 | COOLING SYSTEM FOR ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT - In a cooling system for an electronic device of the present invention, server rooms in which a plurality of servers are placed, an evaporator which is provided close to each of the servers, and cools exhaust air from the server by vaporizing a refrigerant with heat generating from the server, a cooling tower which is provided at a place higher than the evaporator, cools the refrigerant by outside air and water sprinkling, and condenses the vaporized refrigerant, and a circulation line in which the refrigerant naturally circulates between the evaporator and the cooling tower. According to the cooling system, an electronic device which is required to perform a precise operation with a heat generation amount from itself being large, such as a computer and a server, can be efficiently cooled at low running cost. | 03-10-2011 |
20110067421 | VENTILATION AND AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS FOR VEHICLE - A ventilation and air conditioning apparatus for a vehicle includes: a ventilator that sucks air from outside the vehicle; an air conditioner that conditions air inside the vehicle; a duct for fresh outside air that connects the ventilator with the air conditioner so as to supply the air that the ventilator has sucked from outside the vehicle to the air conditioner; and a duct for conditioned air that supplies the conditioned air blown out from the air conditioner to inside the vehicle. The duct for fresh outside air is branched so as to be connected to the duct for conditioned air. With this configuration, even if the operation of the air conditioner is stopped due to, e.g., a leakage of a flammable refrigerant, an amount of ventilation can be secured in the vehicle. | 03-24-2011 |
20110100040 | REFRIGERANT VAPOR COMPRESSION SYSTEM WITH FLASH TANK RECEIVER - A refrigerant vapor compression system includes a flash tank receiver disposed in the refrigerant circuit intermediate the refrigerant cooling heat exchanger and the refrigerant heating heat exchanger. The flash tank receiver, which receives a liquid/vapor refrigerant mix, also functions as a receiver. A refrigerant charge control apparatus includes at least one sensor for sensing an operating characteristic of the refrigerant circulating through the refrigerant compression device, and a controller operative to selectively adjust a secondary expansion device to increase or decrease the flow of refrigerant passing into the flash tank receiver to provide a circulating refrigerant charge consistent with maintaining a desired system operating characteristic. The sensed operating characteristic is at least one of (a) the vapor refrigerant passing through a refrigerant line from the flash tank receiver to an intermediate pressure stage of the compression device, and (b) the refrigerant discharged from the compression device. | 05-05-2011 |
20110107780 | AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS AND AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS REFRIGERANT QUANTITY DETERMINATION METHOD - A refrigerant circuit of an air conditioning apparatus includes a heat source unit, a utilization unit having a utilization-side heat exchanger, an expansion mechanism, and liquid and gas refrigerant connection pipes interconnecting the heat source unit and the utilization unit. The heat source unit has an adjustable capacity compressor, a heat source-side heat exchanger, and a cooling heat source adjusting part to adjust cooling action of a cooling heat source with respect to the heat source-side heat exchanger. The refrigerant circuit can perform at least a cooling operation. A determination of the adequacy of the quantity of the refrigerant charged inside of the refrigerant circuit is made based on a first degree of supercooling corrected value derived by correcting a degree of supercooling or an operating state quantity by at least one of outside air temperature, condensation temperature, and a value obtained by numericizing cooling action. | 05-12-2011 |
20110167847 | FREE COOLING CASCADE ARRANGEMENT FOR REFRIGERATION SYSTEM - A refrigeration system includes a medium temperature subsystem circulating a coolant in a closed loop between at least one medium temperature chiller and at least one medium temperature load and at least one cascade heat exchanger, and a low temperature subsystem circulating a coolant in a closed loop between at least one low temperature heat exchanger and at least one low temperature load. A cooling circuit is provided for circulating a coolant and includes a first pump and a second pump and a fluid cooler and a valve, and interfaces with the medium temperature chiller and the low temperature chiller. The valve is movable to a closed position to define a first flow path and a second flow path, where the first flow path includes the first pump and the medium temperature chiller and fluid cooler, and the second flow path including the second pump and the low temperature heat exchanger and the cascade heat exchanger. | 07-14-2011 |
20110219799 | AIR CONDITIONER - An air conditioner is provided that may minimize lengths of pipes connecting a plurality of indoor devices and an outdoor device, facilitate connection between respective refrigerant pipes through a distribution device, and omit a separate cable to transmit/receive a control signal between the plurality of indoor devices and the distribution device. | 09-15-2011 |
20120117994 | TEMPERATURE REGULATION SYSTEM WITH HYBRID REFRIGERANT SUPPLY AND REGULATION - The present invention provides a temperature regulation system with hybrid refrigerant supply and regulation in which a pressure-reducing regulator (R | 05-17-2012 |
20130319025 | Refrigerant Recovery Unit with Diagnostic Interface - A refrigerant recovery unit is provided that is capable of communicating with a vehicle diagnostic tool. The diagnostic tool can retrieve vehicle information, such as vehicle identifying information or vehicle diagnostic information. The refrigerant recovery unit can diagnose the vehicle and provide fixes to the user using the database stored therein or from a remote location. The refrigerant recovery unit includes various hardware and software to communicate with electronic control units in the vehicle. | 12-05-2013 |