Bulbless thermostatic expansion valve containing a thermal separation slot

Abstract

A bulbless thermostatic expansion valve includes a valve body having an inlet and an outlet, a suction line that is fluidly isolated from the inlet and the outlet, a valve member movable relative to the valve body for controlling flow of an operating fluid through the valve body, and a power element mounted to the valve body adjacent to the suction line and that senses temperature and pressure of the suction line. To account for potential temperature variations among components of the valve and ambient variations, the valve body has a thermal separation slot that is positioned between the inlet and the suction line to provide thermal separation of the power element relative to the inlet. The valve body may have a second thermal separation slot that is positioned between the outlet and the suction line to provide thermal separation of the power element relative to the outlet.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.