JP3146279B2 - Liquid tank - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid tank, and more particularly to a liquid tank provided in a refrigeration cycle of an air conditioner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in an air conditioner, a liquid tank (receiver dryer) temporarily stores a refrigerant from a condenser, separates the refrigerant into gas and liquid, and removes water in the refrigerant. Various configurations have been devised to reduce the diameter of the tank and integrate it into a condenser or make it a sub-assembly.

[0003] For example, FIG. 7 shows a conventional liquid tank 1.
FIG. 3 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of the liquid tank 1, wherein a liquid tank 1 includes a tank body 2, a flat type head portion 3, and a desiccant 4.
And a refrigerant take-out tube 5.

[0004] The tank body 2 has a tapered and elongated cylindrical shape with a bottom, in which a desiccant 4 is arranged in a middle portion thereof, and a refrigerant R can be stored in the bottom thereof.

The head 3 closes an upper opening of the tank body 2, forms a refrigerant inlet port 6 and a refrigerant outlet port 7, and connects the refrigerant inlet port 6 to an outlet tank 9 of a condenser 8 and a refrigerant outlet port. The port 7 can be connected to the evaporator 11 via the expansion valve 10.

[0006] The desiccant 4 adsorbs and removes water mixed in the refrigerant R. The refrigerant R that has passed through the desiccant 4 is stored in the tank body 2
And flows out of the liquid tank 1 (toward the expansion valve 10 and the evaporator 11) via the refrigerant discharge pipe 5.

In the liquid tank 1 having such a configuration, the conventional head portion 3 is elongated and attached to the outlet side tank 9 of the condenser 8 by bolts 12, so that the structure is not so much as compared with the conventional liquid tank 1. There is a problem that the cost merit is not changed.

FIG. 8 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of another conventional liquid tank 13. The liquid tank 13 has a refrigerant inlet port 6 formed in an upper part of the tank body 2 and a refrigerant outlet port 7 formed in a lower part. The refrigerant R flows directly from the refrigerant inlet port 6 to the refrigerant outlet port 7 in the tank body 2.

In the liquid tank 13 having such a configuration, since the refrigerant inlet port 6 and the refrigerant outlet port 7 are formed at different portions, it is disadvantageous in cost, and the refrigerant inlet port 6 and the refrigerant outlet port 7 are not provided. When the liquid tank 13 is directly attached to the condenser 8, there is a problem that it is difficult to secure a pitch of a connection portion at an entrance and an exit when the refrigerant R is returned to the condenser 8 having, for example, a subcooled structure.

FIG. 9 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of still another conventional liquid tank 14.
The refrigerant inlet port 6 and the refrigerant outlet port 7 are both provided at a lower portion of the tank body 2 so that the liquid tank 14 is directly attached to the outlet side tank 9 of the condenser 8.

In the liquid tank 14 having such a configuration, since the refrigerant inlet port 6 and the refrigerant outlet port 7 are formed at positions close to each other, the condenser 8
When the flow rate of the refrigerant R from the side into the liquid tank 14 is high, there is a problem that the gas-liquid separation effect is not sufficiently exerted.

As for the liquid tank, there are JP-A-2-267478, JP-A-4-103973, JP-A-5-66074, JP-A-8-183325 and the like.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and is directed to a liquid tank of the liquid tank type 14 shown in FIG. It is an object to provide a possible liquid tank.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a liquid tank having both ease of assembly and cost advantages.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a liquid tank having a simple structure and a good assembling property to a condenser.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a liquid tank which can be easily returned to a condenser having a subcooled structure and which can be easily attached to the condenser.

[0017]

That is, according to the present invention, a refrigerant inlet portion and a refrigerant outlet portion are provided in a lower portion of a tank main body, and a separation cylinder is arranged inside the tank main body with an introduction space provided therein. It focuses on having a tube structure, and has a tank body connected to a condenser, and by introducing a refrigerant from the condenser into the tank body, gas and liquid are separated and moisture mixed in the refrigerant Is a liquid tank that is led out to the evaporator side, and forms a refrigerant inlet at a lower portion of the tank main body, and forms a refrigerant outlet at a further lower side than the refrigerant inlet. A cylindrical separation cylinder body is provided extending between the inner wall portion and the coolant inlet portion and extending above the coolant inlet portion, and the coolant inlet portion faces the inlet space. It was a liquid tank, characterized by further the interior of the separation cylinder communicates with the refrigerant outlet portion.

[0018] A desiccant can be arranged in an upper portion of the tank body.

[0019] A desiccant can be disposed inside the separation cylinder.

A guide member capable of guiding the refrigerant from the refrigerant inlet to the upper side of the tank body may be provided in the introduction space.

In the liquid tank according to the present invention,
By forming a refrigerant inlet portion and a refrigerant outlet portion in a lower portion of the tank main body and providing a cylindrical separation cylinder inside the tank main body, the separation main body has a so-called double pipe structure. For example, an annular introduction space is provided between the outer wall portion of the tank and the inner wall portion of the tank body. Furthermore, since the height of the separation cylinder is set to extend above the refrigerant inlet, the refrigerant introduced from the refrigerant inlet into the introduction space passes through the inside of the tank body along the outer wall of the separation cylinder. It can rise and reach its upper part. Therefore, the refrigerant is gas-liquid separated from the refrigerant inlet to the upper part, and the liquid of the refrigerant falls into the inside of the separation cylinder, and further flows out from the refrigerant outlet through the inside of the separation cylinder. Is done.

Accordingly, the gas-liquid separation function can be provided with a simple and simple structure in which the separation cylinder is provided inside the tank body, and the assembling thereof is simple, and there is no risk of cost increase.

Further, since the refrigerant inlet portion and the refrigerant outlet portion can be provided at arbitrary positions below the separation cylinder, the arrangement thereof can be changed according to the structure of the condenser and the mounting condition of the surrounding members. You can choose.

The desiccant for adsorbing and removing the moisture in the refrigerant can be provided at an arbitrary portion such as an upper portion of the tank body or inside the separation cylinder.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A liquid tank 20 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. However, the same parts as those in FIGS. 6 to 9 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the liquid tank 20, and FIG.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along a line II, in which a liquid tank 20 includes a tank body 21 corresponding to the tank body 2 and a separation cylinder 2.
2 and the desiccant 4.

The tank body 21 is constituted by a headed / bottomed tubular body, a lower portion of which is provided with a refrigerant inlet 23 corresponding to the refrigerant inlet port 6. Lower side (bottom of tank body 21)
Is formed with a refrigerant outlet portion 24. Also, the separation cylinder 22
A drying agent 4 is provided on the upper side.

The separation cylinder 22 is formed of a cylindrical member, forms an annular introduction space 25 between itself and the inner wall of the tank body 21, and has a height extending above the refrigerant inlet 23. Having. The introduction space 25 has a refrigerant inlet 23.
And the inside of the separation cylinder 22 is communicated with the refrigerant outlet 24 as a liquid storage space 26. A portion above the separation cylinder 22 or the liquid storage space 26 is defined as a gas-liquid separation space 27.

In the liquid tank 20 having such a configuration, when the refrigerant R from the condenser 8 is introduced into the introduction space 25 from the refrigerant inlet 23, the refrigerant R collides with the outer wall of the separation cylinder 22 and moves upward along the same. It rises or wraps around the rear side along the outer wall of the separation cylinder 22, collides with the inner wall of the tank body 21, and rises. With this rise, gas-liquid is separated in the introduction space 25 and the gas-liquid separation space 27, and only the liquid refrigerant R accumulates in the liquid storage space 26, and reaches the expansion valve 10 and the evaporator 11 from the refrigerant outlet 24.

Thus, in the liquid tank 20, the same effect as when the refrigerant R is introduced from above the tank body 2 as in the conventional liquid tank 1 (FIG. 7) or the liquid tank 13 (FIG. 8) may be exerted. Possible,
The desiccant 4 removes moisture by adsorption.

The liquid tank 20 can be formed integrally with the condenser 8 (the outlet tank 9), or can be formed as a sub-assembly.

FIG. 3 is a schematic vertical sectional view of a main part of a liquid tank 30 according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG.
At 0, a pair of guide members 31 are obliquely attached at a predetermined inclination angle θ in the diametrical direction at a position facing the refrigerant inlet 23 on the outer periphery of the separation cylinder 22.

In the liquid tank 30 having such a configuration, since the guide member 31 faces the refrigerant inlet 23 in the introduction space 25, the refrigerant R from the refrigerant inlet 23 is
Collides with the guide member 31 and is guided upward, so that the refrigerant R can be efficiently guided from the introduction space 25 to the gas-liquid separation space 27 side.

FIG. 5 is a schematic vertical sectional view of a main part of a liquid tank 40 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In this liquid tank 40, a desiccant 4 is placed in the liquid storage space 26. A filter 41 is attached to the upper and lower portions while being accommodated.

In the liquid tank 40 having such a structure, instead of removing water in the gas-liquid separation space 27,
In the liquid storage space 26, moisture can be more effectively adsorbed and removed.

FIG. 6 is a schematic vertical sectional view of a main part of a liquid tank 50 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the liquid tank 50, a refrigerant inlet 23 and a refrigerant outlet 24 are arranged in parallel. Thus, the connector 8 is provided as an integral connector 51 to the outlet tank 9 in the condenser 8. Therefore, the refrigerant R can be supercooled by supplying the refrigerant R again to the subcool portion 52 of the condenser 8, and can be supplied to the expansion valve 10 and the evaporator 11.

The liquid tank 50 can be formed integrally with the condenser 8 (outlet tank 9), or can be formed as a sub-assembly.

In the liquid tank 50 having such a configuration, since the refrigerant inlet 23 and the refrigerant outlet 24 are integrated as the connection connector 51, the work of assembling to the condenser 8 can be easily performed.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, the separation cylinder is provided in the tank body so that gas-liquid separation can be performed in the introduction space and the gas-liquid separation space. It can be manufactured at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a liquid tank 20 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic vertical sectional view of a main part of a liquid tank 30 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic vertical sectional view of a main part of a liquid tank 40 according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of a main part of a liquid tank 50 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of a conventional liquid tank 1.

FIG. 8 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of another conventional liquid tank 13.

FIG. 9 is a schematic vertical sectional view of still another conventional liquid tank 14.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Liquid tank (FIG. 7) 2 Tank main body 3 Flat type head part 4 Desiccant 5 Refrigerant take-out pipe 6 Refrigerant inlet port 7 Refrigerant outlet port 8 Condenser 9 Condenser 8 outlet tank 10 Expansion valve 11 Evaporator 12 Volt 13 Liquid tank (FIG. 8) 14 Liquid tank (FIG. 9) 20 Liquid tank (first embodiment, FIG. 1) 21 Tank body 22 Separator cylinder 23 Refrigerant inlet 24 Refrigerant outlet 25 Annular introduction space 26 Liquid storage space 27 Gas-liquid separation space 30 liquid tank (second embodiment, FIG. 3) 31 pair of guide members 40 liquid tank (third embodiment, FIG. 5) 41 filter 50 liquid tank (fourth embodiment, Fig. 6) 51 Connector 52 Subcool part of condenser 8 R Refrigerant θ guide The angle of inclination of the timber 31

Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-10-141810 (JP, A) JP-A-10-73346 (JP, A) JP-A-5-196326 (JP, A) JP-A-4-121562 (JP) , A) JP-A-6-201230 (JP, A) U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,976 (US, A) European Patent Application Publication No. 685694 (EP, A1) European Patent Application Publication No. 689014 (EP, A1) (58) (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F25B 43/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A tank body connected to a condenser, wherein a refrigerant is introduced into the tank body from the condenser to separate gas and liquid, remove water mixed in the refrigerant, and remove the water from the evaporator. A liquid tank formed at a lower portion of the tank main body, and a refrigerant outlet portion formed further below the refrigerant inlet portion, between the inner wall of the tank main body. With an introduction space, and providing a cylindrical separation cylinder extending above the refrigerant inlet, the refrigerant inlet faces the introduction space, and further the interior of the separation cylinder faces the refrigerant outlet. A liquid tank characterized by communication. 2. The liquid tank according to claim 1, wherein a desiccant is disposed in an upper portion of the tank body. 3. The liquid tank according to claim 1, wherein a desiccant is disposed inside the separation cylinder. 4. The liquid tank according to claim 1, wherein a guide member capable of guiding the refrigerant from the refrigerant inlet to an upper side of the tank body is provided in the introduction space.