US 12,523,401 B2 · Refrigerant recovery system and recovery cart thereof

Abstract

A refrigerant recovery system includes a refrigerant circuit with a vacuum pump, a first connection port, a second connection port, an exhaust port, and multiple-way valves that selectively fluidly connect said ports to the vacuum pump. The multiple-way valves have a first configuration, a second configuration, and a third configuration for fluidly connecting the ports to a suction inlet and a discharge outlet of the vacuum pump. A method is for recovering refrigerant from a refrigerant circuit using a refrigerant recovery system. The method includes operating the refrigerant recovery system in a liquid recovery configuration to transfer liquid refrigerant in an refrigerant circuit into one or more recovery cylinders and operating the refrigerant recovery system in a gas recovery configuration to transfer gaseous refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit into the one or more recovery cylinders. A recovery cart includes a transfer circuit of a refrigerant recovery system.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A refrigerant recovery system, comprising:

a transfer circuit including:
a vacuum pump including a suction inlet and a discharge outlet,
a plurality of ports including a first connection port, a second connection port, and an exhaust port, and
a plurality of multiple-way valves selectively connecting the first connection port, the second connection port, and the exhaust port to the vacuum pump and having:
a first configuration that fluidly connects the first connection port to the suction inlet of the vacuum pump, and fluidly connects the second connection port to the discharge outlet of the vacuum pump,
a second configuration that fluidly connects the first connection port to the discharge outlet of the vacuum pump, and fluidly connects the second connection port to the suction inlet of the vacuum pump, and
a third configuration that fluidly connects the suction inlet of the vacuum pump to each of the first connection port and the second connection port, and fluidly connects the discharge outlet to the exhaust port.

4 more elements

A method of recovering refrigerant from a refrigerant circuit using a refrigerant recovery system, the refrigerant recovery system including a transfer circuit with a vacuum pump, a first connection port, a second connection port, an exhaust port, and a plurality of multiple-way valves, the method comprising:

operating the refrigerant recovery system in a liquid recovery configuration to transfer liquid refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit into one or more recovery cylinders, which includes:
adjusting the plurality of multiple-way valves such that a discharge outlet of the vacuum pump is fluidly connected to the refrigerant circuit via the second connection port, and a suction inlet of the vacuum pump is fluidly connected to the one or more recovery cylinders via the first connection port, and
the vacuum pump suctioning from the one or more recovery cylinders and discharging into the refrigerant circuit;
and
operating the refrigerant recovery system in a gas recovery configuration to transfer gaseous refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit into the one or more recovery cylinders, which includes:
adjusting the plurality of multiple-way valves such that the discharge outlet of the vacuum pump is fluidly connected to the one or more recovery cylinders via the first connection port, and the suction inlet of the vacuum pump is fluidly connected to the refrigerant circuit via the second connection port, and
the vacuum pump suctioning from the refrigerant circuit and discharging into the one or more recovery cylinders.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Refrigerant recovery system and recovery cart thereof

Life of this patent

Refrigerant recovery system and recovery cart thereof

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20