Mobile air conditioning system and control mechanisms therefor
OwnerRene F. Bascobertinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The performance of mobile air conditioning systems is improved with the use of a pressure sensing valve to control refrigerant flow in the system. The pressure sensing valve is connected between the condenser and the evaporator. The control valve senses the refrigerant pressure adjacent the evaporator, ie. the input, or output, or the combination of both, to control the refrigerant flow through the evaporator in a manner to improve the performance of the system. The reference pressure for the valve can be the atmosphere or a fixed or variable source. Various other operating variables can be sensed to control the variable source in a manner to interact with the sensed pressure to provide added control of system performance.
Claims46
A pressure sensitive valve adapted to control the amount of refrigerant flow in vehicular air conditioning systems that include a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator and an accumulator interconnected for serial refrigerant flow therein, and wherein the vehicle engine drives the compressor so that the refrigerant pumping capacity of the compressor increases and decreases with increases and decreases in vehicle engine speed, and the heat rejection capacity of the condenser increases and decreases in air flow there through due to increases and decreases in the vehicle speed and engine fan speed, said valve comprising:
- a casing for the valve including an input port adapted to be connected to receive refrigerant from the condenser, and an output port adapted to be connected to deliver the refrigerant to the evaporator;
- a variable valve located within the casing between the inlet port and the output port for controlling the size of the opening between the ports;
- a pressure sensing mechanism adapted to be connected for sensing refrigerant pressure adjacent the evaporator to provide a displacement motion that is a function of the magnitude of the sensed pressure, and
- a coupling mechanism connected between the pressure sensing mechanism and the variable valve to control the size of the opening as a function of the magnitude of the sensed pressure, so that the variable valve is adapted to function as a variable orifice and interact with the accumulator to control the amount of refrigerant flow through the system so as to vary the cooling capacity of the system relative to changes in at least one of the compressor and condenser capacities.
In a vehicular air conditioning system including a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator and an accumulator connected in series for cyclic refrigerant flow therein wherein the vehicle engine drives the compressor so that the compressor capacity is a function of engine speed, and the capacity of the condenser is a function the vehicle speed and engine fan speed, a control system for controlling refrigerant flow in the system comprising:
- a pressure sensitive control valve having an input port, an output port, a variable valve mechanism there between having a variable opening for connecting the input port to the output port and a pressure sensing mechanism coupled to the variable valve mechanism for providing a displacement movement thereto for controlling the size of the opening of the valve mechanism;
- means for coupling the input and output ports of the pressure sensitive valve in the air conditioning system at a point between the condenser and the evaporator, and
- means for coupling the pressure sensing mechanism to sense the refrigerant pressure adjacent to the evaporator so that the valve function as a variable orifice to control the amount of refrigerant flow through the system so as to vary the cooling capacity of the system relative to changes in at least one of the compressor and condenser capacities.
In a mobile air conditioning system including a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator and an accumulator connected in series for cyclic refrigerant flow therein, wherein the vehicle engine drives the compressor so that the compressor capacity is a function of engine speed, and the capacity of the condenser is a function the vehicle speed and engine fan speed, a control system for controlling the flow of refrigerant flow in the system comprising:
- a control valve connected in the system between the condenser and the evaporator to control the refrigerant flow through the system, said control valve being responsive to input signals to vary the flow of refrigerant flow there through;
- a sensor for detecting refrigerant pressure adjacent to the evaporator and at least one of a plurality of variables including ambient temperature, ambient humidity, engine speed, vehicle speed and evaporator output temperature, and
- means for combining the output of the pressure sensor with at least the output of one of the plurality of variables as input signals to the control valve to control the refrigerant flow in the system with changes in at least one of the compress and condenser capacities.
A pressure sensitive valve adapted to control the amount of refrigerant flow in vehicle air conditioning systems that include a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator and an accumulator interconnected for serial refrigerant flow therein, and wherein the vehicle engine drives the compressor so that the refrigerant pumping capacity of the compressor increases and decreases with increases and decreases in vehicle engine speed, and the heat rejection capacity of the condenser increases and decreases with air flow there through with increases and decreases in vehicle speed and engine fan speed, said valve comprising:
- a casing for the valve including an input port adapted to be connected to receive refrigerant from the condenser, and a output port adapted to be connected to deliver the refrigerant to the evaporator;
- a variable valve located within the casing between the inlet port and the output port for controlling the size of the opening between the ports;
- a pressure sensing mechanism adapted to be connected for sensing evaporator refrigerant pressure adjacent the evaporator to provide a displacement motion that is a function of the magnitude of the sensed pressure, and
- a coupling mechanism adapted to be connected between the pressure sensing mechanism and the variable valve to control the size of the opening as a function of the magnitude of the sensed pressure in a direction towards evaporator refrigerant pressures adjacent the output of the evaporator corresponding to substantially total refrigerant vaporization so as to control the heat absorbing capacity of the evaporator relative to changes in at least one of the compressor and condenser capacities.
In a vehicular air conditioning system including a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator and an accumulator connected in series for cyclic refrigerant flow therein and wherein the vehicle engine drives the compressor so that the refrigerant pumping capacity of the compressor increases and decreases with increases and decreases in vehicle engine speed, and the heat rejection capacity of the condenser increases and decreases with air flow there through with increases and decreases in vehicle speed and engine fan speed, a control system for controlling the flow of refrigerant flow in the system comprising:
- a pressure sensitive control valve having an input port an output port a variable valve mechanism there between having a variable opening for connecting the input port to the output port and a pressure sensing mechanism coupled to the variable valve mechanism for providing a displacement movement thereto for controlling the size of the opening of the valve mechanism;
- means for coupling the input and output ports of the pressure sensitive valve in the air conditioning system at a point between the condenser and the evaporator, and
- means for coupling the pressure sensing mechanism to sense the refrigerant pressure adjacent to the evaporator to control the refrigerant flow through the valve mechanism as a function of the magnitude of the sensed pressure in a direction toward evaporator pressures adjacent the output of the evaporator corresponding to substantially total refrigerant vaporization so as to control the heat absorbing capacity of the evaporator relative to changes in at least one of the compressor and condenser capacities.
In a vehicular air conditioning system including a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator and an accumulator connected in series for cyclic refrigerant flow therein and wherein the vehicle engine drives the compressor so that the refrigerant pumping capacity of the compressor increases and decreases with increases and decreases in vehicle speed, and the heat rejection capacity of the condenser increases and decreases with air flow there through with increases and decreases in vehicle speed and engine fan speed, a control system comprising:
- a pressure sensitive control valve having an input port, an output port, a valve between the input port and output port, and a pressure sensing mechanism coupled to the valve for providing a displacement movement thereto as a function of sensed pressure for controlling the size of the valve opening;
- means for coupling the input and output ports of the pressure sensitive valve in the air conditioning system at a point adjacent the evaporator, and
- means for coupling the pressure sensing mechanism to sense refrigerant pressure adjacent the evaporator so that the valve functions as a variable orifice to control the amount of refrigerant flow trough the system for variations in compressor and condenser capacities in a direction to achieve heat absorption over substantially the entire evaporator while interacting with the accumulator by providing levels of liquid refrigerant flow as needed to control the amount active charge of the refrigerant in the system.
A variable orifice control system for vehicular air conditioning systems including a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator and an accumulator connected in series for cyclic refrigerant flow therein and wherein the vehicle engine drives the compressor so that the refrigerant pumping capacity of the compressor increases and decreases with increases and decreases in vehicle engine speed, and the heat rejection capacity of the condenser increases and decreases with air flow there through with increases and decreases in vehicle speed and engine fan speed, a control system comprising:
- a pressure sensitive control valve having an input port, an output port a valve between the input port and output port and a pressure sensing mechanism coupled to the valve for providing a displacement movement thereto as a function of sensed pressure for controlling the size of the valve opening;
- means for coupling the input and output ports of the pressure sensitive valve in the air conditioning system between the condenser and the evaporator, and
- means for coupling the pressure sensing mechanism to sense refrigerant pressure adjacent the evaporator so that the valve functions as a variable orifice and interacts with the accumulator to vary the amount of refrigerant flowing in the system in a direction corresponding to changes in the compressor and condenser operating capacities.
In vehicular air conditioning systems including a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator and an accumulator connected in series for cyclic refrigerant flow therein and wherein the vehicle engine drives the compressor so that the refrigerant pumping capacity of the compressor increases and decreases with increases and decreases in vehicle engine speed, and the heat rejection capacity of the condenser increases and decreases with air flow there through with increases and decreases in vehicle speed and engine fan speed, a method for controlling the system comprising:
- sensing the pressure of the refrigerant adjacent the evaporator;
- controlling the flow of refrigerant through the evaporator with a valve that is responsive to the sensed pressure so as to function as a variable orifice to control refrigerant in a direction to adjust the cooling capacity of the system as a direct function of the compressor and condenser capacities.
The method as defined in claim 46 wherein:
- the sensing step includes adjusting the sensed pressure as a function of the flow rate of the refrigerant.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.