Portable refrigerant handling apparatus and associated methods

Portable, hand carryable apparatus for use in flushing impurities from the interior of an air conditioning circuit having refrigerant inlet and outlet fittings, said apparatus comprising:

• a housing having an open-topped base portion, a lid portion hingedly secured to the upper end of said base portion and having a carrying handle secured thereto, and latch means for releasably securing said lid portion to said base portion in a closed orientation over the open top of said base portion;
• a drop-in tray structure removably insertable into said housing base portion through the open top thereof, said drop-in tray structure having a top wall and a bottom wall;
• a refrigerant inlet valve secured to and projecting upwardly from said tray structure top wall, said inlet valve having an inlet and an outlet for respectively receiving and discharging a flow of refrigerant;
• a refrigerant outlet valve secured to and projecting upwardly from said tray structure top wall, said outlet valve having an in inlet and an outlet for respectively receiving and discharging a flow of refrigerant;
• a liquid refrigerant pump mounted on said tray structure bottom wall and having an electric drive motor, an inlet, and an outlet;
• conduit means for connecting said pump outlet to the inlet of said refrigerant outlet valve, and for connecting said pump inlet to the outlet of said refrigerant inlet valve;
• and
• an adapted kit for operatively connecting said apparatus to said air conditioning circuit, and to a storage container containing liquid flushing refrigerant and having an inlet and an outlet, said adapter kit including:
• first hose means, interconnectable between the storage container outlet and said inlet of said refrigerant inlet valve, for transferring refrigerant from the storage container to said apparatus,
• second hose means for transferring refrigerant from said apparatus to said air conditioning circuit, said second hose means having an inlet end connectable to said outlet of said refrigerant outlet valve, and an outlet end,
• third hose means for transferring refrigerant from said air conditioning circuit to the refrigerant storage container, said third hose means having an inlet end for receiving refrigerant from said air conditioning circuit refrigerant outlet fitting, and an outlet end connectable to the storage container inlet, said third hose means having connected in series therein a strainer, a Schrader tee and a filter,
• a first adapter fitting removably connected to said outlet end of said second hose means and being configured to precisely mate with and be removably connected to said refrigerant inlet fitting of said air conditioning circuit, and
• a second adapter fitting removably connected to said inlet end of said third hose means and being configured to precisely mate with and be removably connected to said refrigerant outlet fitting of said air conditioning circuit,
• said adapter kit further including a series of additional adapter fitting paris removably connectable to said outlet end of said second hose means, and said inlet end of said third hose means, and being configured to precisely mate with and be removably connected to the refrigerant inlet and outlet fittings of other air conditioning circuits.