Absorption heat pump

An absorption heat pump for cooling and heating a space, comprising:

• a regenerator inserted in a solution circulation path for heating a solution flowing through said solution circulation path and ejecting refrigerant vapor into a refrigerant path;
• an absorber inserted in said solution path and in said refrigerant path for letting solution in said solution path absorb refrigerant vapor that is introduced into said solution path, whereby the absorption of the refrigerant vapor by the solution produces heat, and for changing condensed refrigerant in said refrigerant path into refrigerant vapor by said heat of absorption and ejecting the refrigerant vapor from said absorber;
• an outside air coil disposed in said refrigerant path for performing heat exchange between refrigerant in said refrigerant path and outside air, said outside air coil functioning as a condenser in order to condense the refrigerant when the heat pump is in a cooling mode and functioning as an evaporator in order to vaporize the refrigerant when the heat pump is in a heating mode;
• a room coil disposed in said refrigerant path for performing heat exchange between refrigerant in said refrigerant path and a heating medium for a load inside a room, said room coil functioning as an evaporator in order to vaporize the refrigerant when the heat pump is in a cooling mode and functioning as a condenser in order to condense the refrigerant when the heat pump is in a heating mode;
• a switch valve disposed in said refrigerant path, said switch valve having a first port for leading refrigerant vapor ejected from said regenerator and refrigerant vapor ejected from said absorber into said switch valve, a second port communicating with said room coil, a third port communicating with a line connected to said solution circulation path, and a fourth port communicating with said outside air coil, wherein said first port and said fourth port are in fluid connection and said second port and said third port are in fluid connection when the heat pump is in a cooling mode, and wherein said first port and said second port are in fluid connection and said third port and said fourth port are in fluid connection when the heat pump is in a heating mode;
• and
• means for delivering condensed refrigerant from either said outside air coil or said room coil, depending on whether said outside air coil or said room coil is functioning as a condenser, to said absorber whereby the condensed refrigerant cools said absorber.

An absorption heat pump for use in a refrigerator, comprising:

• a regenerator inserted in a solution circulation path for heating a solution flowing through said solution circulation path and ejecting refrigerant vapor into a refrigerant path;
• an absorber for letting solution in the solution circulation path absorb refrigerant vapor delivered from said refrigerant path to said solution circulation path thereby producing heat of absorption, changing a refrigerant in said refrigerant path into refrigerant vapor by said heat of absorption, and ejecting the refrigerant vapor;
• an outside air coil for performing heat exchange between refrigerant in said refrigerant path and outside air, said outside air coil functioning as a condenser to condense the refrigerant;
• a room coil for performing heat exchange between the refrigerant in said refrigerant path and a heating medium from a load inside a room, said room coil functioning as an evaporator to vaporize the refrigerant;
• means for mixing refrigerant vapor ejected from said absorber with refrigerant vapor ejected from said regenerator and supplying the mixed refrigerant vapor to said outside air coil;
• and
• means for delivering condensed refrigerant from said outside air coil, past said room coil, and into said absorber in order to cool said absorber.