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US 12,420,611 B2Granted
Bypass for heat pump systems
AssigneeRivian IP Holdings, LLC
InventorsSanjog Dilip Gawade, Ming Ma, Sushant More
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Aspects of the disclosure relate to a heat pump system having a selectable bypass flow path that allows a refrigerant to bypass an accumulator of the heat pump system. The bypass flow path may be used, for example, to reduce a pressure drop in a refrigerant, and may provide a cooling boost for a passenger compartment of a vehicle, particularly in high ambient temperature and/or solar load environments and/or during fast charging of a vehicle battery.
Claims19
An apparatus, comprising:
- a heat pump system comprising:
- a first refrigerant path from an evaporator to a compressor, the first refrigerant path passing through an accumulator;
- a second refrigerant path from the evaporator to the compressor, wherein the second refrigerant path bypasses the accumulator;
- a flow control mechanism operable to switch a flow of a refrigerant between the first refrigerant path and the second refrigerant path;
- and
- control logic configured to operate the flow control mechanism, based on an environmental condition and a charging mode of a vehicle, to switch the flow of the refrigerant between the first refrigerant path and the second refrigerant path.
3 more elements
A method, comprising:
- providing a flow of a refrigerant from an evaporator, through an accumulator, to a compressor of a heat pump system via a first refrigerant path;
- and
- switching, by control logic based on an environmental condition and a charging mode of a vehicle, the flow of the refrigerant from the evaporator to the compressor to a second refrigerant path that bypasses the accumulator.
An electric vehicle, comprising:
- a heat pump system, comprising:
- a first refrigerant path from an evaporator to a compressor, the first refrigerant path passing through an accumulator;
- a second refrigerant path from the evaporator to the compressor, wherein the second refrigerant path bypasses the accumulator;
- a flow control mechanism operable to switch a flow of a refrigerant between the first refrigerant path and the second refrigerant path;
- and
- control logic configured to operate the flow control mechanism, based on an environmental condition and a charging mode of the electric vehicle, to switch the flow of the refrigerant between the first refrigerant path and the second refrigerant path.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.