Expansion element and a valve unit usable therefor

A valve unit usable for an air conditioner expansion element, comprising:

• a fixed throttle between a valve high-pressure side and a valve low-pressure side, and
• at least one control valve arranged to vary a passage cross-section of the fixed throttle, which cross-section is always at least partially open, wherein the at least one control valve is a mechanical control valve arranged to be acted upon by pressure of a low-pressure-side medium as the correcting variable, and the control valve is operatively connected on the low-pressure side by a valve-housing-internal connection line with the valve low-pressure side.

An expansion element for an air conditioner having a refrigerant high-pressure side on an upstream thereof and a refrigerant low-pressure side on a downstream thereof, comprising:

• a control valve configured to adjust a flow cross-section of the refrigerant from the high-pressure side to the low-pressure side as a function of an effective correcting variable and to be acted upon by the refrigerant pressure on the low-pressure side or a physical quantity connected therewith as the correcting variable.

An expansion element for an air conditioner having a refrigerant high-pressure side on an upstream side thereof and a refrigerant low-pressure side on a downstream side thereof comprising a valve unit having:

• a fixed throttle between a valve high-pressure side and a valve low-pressure side, and
• at least one control valve arranged to adjust a passage cross-section of the fixed throttle, and configured to be coupled on the valve high-pressure side to a condenser, gas cooler or internal heat exchanger of the air conditioner and on the valve low-pressure side to a low-pressure-side refrigerant flow section of the air conditioner.

An expansion element for an air conditioner having a refrigerant high-pressure side on an upstream side thereof and a refrigerant low-pressure side on a downstream side thereof comprising a valve unit having:

• a fixed throttle between a valve high-pressure side and a valve low-pressure side, and
• at least one control valve arranged to adjust a passage cross-section of the fixed throttle, which cross-section is always at least partially open, and configured to be coupled on the valve high-pressure side to a condenser, gas cooler or internal heat exchanger of the air conditioner and on the valve low-pressure side to a low-pressure-side refrigerant flow section of the air conditioner, wherein the control valve is arranged with a low-pressure control side thereof fluidically either between the expansion element and an evaporator of the air conditioner or between the evaporator and a compressor of the air conditioner, including in front of or behind an optionally existing internal heat exchanger 1.