# US 2013/0152610 A1 · Refrigeration Systems Having Prescriptive Refrigerant Flow Control > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2013/0152610 A1 - Document ID: US20130152610A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/769,068 - Filed: 2013-02-15 - Published: 2013-06-20 - Earliest claimed: 2006-11-08 - Assignees: IMI Cornelius Inc. - Inventors: Daniel C. Leaver; Gregory M. Billman - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20130152610A1 ## CPC - F25B 41/20: Disposition of valves, e.g. of on-off valves or flow control valves (expansion valves F25B41/31) - F25B 41/347: {with the valve member being opened and closed cyclically, e.g. with pulse width modulation} - F25B 41/35: by rotary motors, e.g. by stepping motors - F25B 49/02: for compression type machines, plants or systems - F25B 49/025: {Motor control arrangements} - F25C 1/00: Producing ice (F25C3/00 takes precedence) - F25B 2600/2513: Expansion valves - F25D 2331/802: Barrels - Y02B 30/70: Efficient control or regulation technologies, e.g. for control of refrigerant flow, motor or heating - F25B: REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS - F25C: PRODUCING, WORKING OR HANDLING ICE - F25D: REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR (refrigerated showcases A47F3/04; thermally-insulated vessels for domestic use A47J41/00; refrigerated vehicles, see the appropriate subclasses of classes B60 - B64; containers with thermal insulation in general B65D81/38; heat-transfer, heat-exchange or heat-storage materials, e.g. refrigerants, or materials for the production of heat or cold by chemical reactions other than by combustion C09K5/00; thermally-insulated vessels for liquefied or solidified gases F17C; air-conditioning or air-humidification F24F; refrigeration machines, plants, or systems F25B; cooling of instruments or comparable apparatus without refrigeration G12B) - Y02B: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS ## Abstract A refrigeration system for a frozen product dispenser is controlled to have a variable cooling capacity that is determined by variable cooling load demands of the dispenser. This is accomplished, in part, by providing the refrigeration system with a variable speed compressor and one or more adjustable expansion valves for metering refrigerant to associated evaporators that are heat exchange coupled to associated freeze barrels of the dispenser, and by controlling the metering setting of the expansion valves and the speed of operation of the compressor in accordance with the cooling load demands of the dispenser. The arrangement provides for efficient operation of the refrigeration system from an energy standpoint and for a reduction in on/off cycling of the system. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A refrigeration system comprising: an evaporator for exchanging heat; a load to be chilled to within a selected temperature range, the load placing a variable heat load on the refrigeration system; an adjustable expansion valve for metering a refrigerant to said evaporator at a selected flow rate; a variable speed compressor for delivering refrigerant to said expansion valve at selected flow rates determined by the speed of operation of said compressor, the refrigerant being metered by said expansion valve to said evaporator to cool said evaporator to chill the load; a sensor for sensing the variable heat load placed on the refrigeration system by the load; a microprocessor electrically coupled to the expansion valve, the variable speed compressor, and the sensor, wherein the microprocessor determines a chilling requirement of the load based on a signal from the sensor; and wherein the microprocessor controls a speed of the variable speed compressor, and an expansion of the expansion valve, to deliver a sufficient amount of a refrigerant to the evaporator to satisfy the chilling requirement. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The refrigeration system of claim 1, wherein the chilling requirement is measured in BTUs. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The refrigeration system of claim 1, wherein the sensor senses the variable heat load placed on the refrigeration system by measuring the volume and temperature of a frozen carbonated beverage flowing into the load. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The refrigeration system of claim 1, wherein the sensor senses the variable heat load placed on the refrigeration system by measuring the volume and temperature of a frozen carbonated beverage flowing out of the load. ### Claim 5 A refrigeration system comprising: an evaporator for exchanging heat; an adjustable expansion valve for metering a refrigerant to said evaporator at a selected flow rate; a variable speed compressor for delivering refrigerant to said expansion valve; a frozen product dispenser placing a variable heat load on the refrigeration system, the frozen product dispenser having a freeze barrel that is heat exchange coupled with the evaporator; a sensor for sensing the volume and temperature of a product flowing into the freeze barrel; and a microprocessor electronically coupled to the expansion valve, to the variable speed compressor, and to the sensor; wherein the microprocessor receives a signal from the sensor indicating the volume and temperature of product flowing into the freeze barrel, determines a number of Btu's of cooling required to be provided to the freeze barrel to chill the product flowing into the freeze barrel to within a selected temperature range, and controls the speed of the compressor and the expansion of the expansion valve to deliver said number of Btu's of cooling. ### Claim 6 A method for closely matching the cooling capacity of a refrigeration system to the requirements of a load, comprising: determining a selected temperature range for a frozen carbonated beverage in a freeze barrel, the freeze barrel being coupled to the refrigeration system; using at least one sensor, sensing the volume and temperature of frozen carbonated beverage flowing into the freeze barrel; using a microprocessor, calculating an amount of cooling required to chill the frozen carbonated beverage flowing into the freeze barrel to within the selected temperature range; using the microprocessor, controlling a speed of a variable speed compressor and an expansion of an expansion valve to deliver the calculated amount of cooling to the freeze barrel; wherein the variable speed compressor delivers a refrigerant through the expansion valve to an evaporator, and the evaporator is heat exchange coupled to the freeze barrel.