KR100829187B1 - Electronic expansion valve and multi-type air conditioning system having a non-power valve - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic expansion valve and a multi-type air conditioning system, each having a non-power valve are provided to close a refrigerant path towards an indoor unit automatically even when the indoor unit is abnormal and not supplied with power, since a plunger closes the refrigerant path by expansion of a shape memory element which expands or contracts according to the temperature change of refrigerant. A multi-type air conditioning system includes an electronic expansion valve part(30) and non-power valve parts(40,50). The non-power valve part includes a valve case(41,51), a plunger(42,52) mounted in the valve case and moving back and forth for opening or closing a refrigerant path(45,55), and a shape memory element(43,53) of which an end is fixed to the plunger to move back and forth together with the plunger and the other end fixed to the valve case, wherein the shape memory element expands or contracts by the temperature of refrigerant which flows along the refrigerant path. The non-power valve has an elastic element(47,57) such as a compression coil spring mounted in the valve case for pressing the plunger in the path opening direction.

Description

ELECTRONIC EXPANSION VALVE AND MULTI-TYPE AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM HAVING A NON-POWER VALVE}

1 shows a multi-type air conditioning system employing a non-powered valve according to the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view showing the operating state of the non-powered valves and the electromagnetic expansion valve in the normal cooling operation state of the multi-type air conditioning system according to the present invention.

3 is a cross-sectional view showing the operating state of the non-powered valves and the electromagnetic expansion valve in the indoor unit failure state during the cooling operation of the multi-type air conditioning system according to the present invention.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the operating state of the non-powered valves and the electromagnetic expansion valve in the normal heating operation state of the multi-type air conditioning system according to the present invention.

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the operating state of the non-powered valves and the electronic expansion valve in the indoor unit failure state during the heating operation of the multi-type air conditioning system according to the present invention.

Figure 6 shows another embodiment of the non-power supply valve and the electromagnetic expansion valve according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

10: outdoor unit, 11: outdoor heat exchanger,

12: outdoor blower fan, 13: compressor,

14: air conditioning switch, 20: indoor unit,

21: indoor heat exchanger, 22: indoor blower fan,

30: electromagnetic expansion valve, 40: the first non-power valve,

41: valve case, 42: plunger,

43: shape memory member, 47: elastic member,

50: second no-power valve.

The present invention relates to a non-powered valve for opening and closing a refrigerant flow path, an electronic expansion valve having such a non-powered valve and a multi-type air conditioning system, and more particularly, to a non-powered valve capable of automatically opening and closing a flow path in accordance with a temperature change of a refrigerant.

The multi-type air conditioning system is a method in which a plurality of indoor units are connected to one outdoor unit. Typically, an outdoor unit is provided with an outdoor heat exchanger, an outdoor blower fan, a compressor, an air conditioning switch, and the like, and each indoor unit is provided with an indoor heat exchanger, an indoor blower fan, and an electronic expansion valve. The plurality of indoor units are connected in parallel with one outdoor unit through a refrigerant pipe. Such a multi-type air conditioning system can perform cooling and heating of a required space by selectively operating a plurality of indoor units.

However, such a multi-type air conditioning system has a failure in any one of the plurality of indoor units, and the operation of the electronic expansion valve and the indoor blowing fan stops when the power supply is stopped by the electronic expansion valve and the indoor blowing fan of the indoor unit. However, when such a problem occurs during the cooling operation, the electronic expansion valve is stopped and the heat exchange fan does not operate because the indoor blower does not operate while the refrigerant flows to the indoor heat exchanger. Therefore, the indoor heat exchanger side could be supercooled, and due to this cause, the outdoor heat exchanger could be damaged by the subcooling of the outdoor heat exchanger. That is, the refrigerant circulation continues to the other indoor unit except the failed indoor unit. Due to the influence of the broken indoor unit, the entire multi-type air conditioning system may become unstable or break down.

Likewise, in such a multi-type air conditioning system, this problem may similarly occur in the heating operation. That is, when the heating operation is performed, the outdoor indoor heat exchanger may be overheated because the faulty indoor unit is overheated.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a non-powered valve and an electronic expansion valve and a multi-type air conditioning system having the same to automatically shut off the refrigerant flow path of the indoor unit when a failure of the indoor unit occurs. It is.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a multi-type air conditioning system which enables normal operation of other indoor units even when one indoor unit fails.

The non-powered valve according to the present invention for achieving this object is a valve case, a plunger installed to retreat in the valve case for opening and closing of the flow path, one end is connected to the plunger for the retraction of the plunger and the other end is the valve case It is fixed to and characterized in that it comprises a shape memory member that is stretched in accordance with the temperature of the fluid flowing through the flow path.

In addition, the non-powered valve according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises an elastic member installed in the valve case for pressing the plunger in the direction of opening the flow path.

In addition, the electronic expansion valve according to the present invention includes an expansion valve portion for controlling the opening degree of the refrigerant passage by operating by an electric operation means, and a non-powered valve portion for opening and closing the refrigerant passage in accordance with the temperature change of the refrigerant flowing through the refrigerant passage The non-powered valve part may include a plunger for opening and closing the refrigerant passage by a retraction operation, and a shape memory member having one end coupled to the plunger for expansion and retraction of the plunger and being stretched according to the temperature of the refrigerant.

In addition, the electronic expansion valve according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises an integral valve case for accommodating the expansion valve portion and the non-powered valve portion.

In addition, the non-power supply valve portion is characterized in that it further comprises an elastic member for pressing the plunger in the direction of opening the refrigerant passage.

In addition, the multi-type air conditioning system according to the present invention includes an outdoor unit, a plurality of indoor units connected in parallel by the outdoor unit and the refrigerant pipe, the outdoor unit includes a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an outdoor blower fan, each indoor unit An indoor expansion exchanger and an indoor blowing fan, each indoor unit having an electronic expansion valve installed in a refrigerant pipe for guiding the refrigerant of the outdoor heat exchanger to the indoor heat exchanger, and a refrigerant guiding the refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchanger to the compressor. And a non-powered valve installed in the pipe, wherein the non-powered valve includes a valve case, a plunger installed to retreat in the valve case for opening and closing of the refrigerant flow path, and one end connected to the plunger for the retraction of the plunger and the other end of the It is fixed to the valve case and characterized in that it comprises a shape memory member that is stretched in accordance with the temperature of the refrigerant It shall be.

In addition, the multi-type air conditioning system according to the present invention includes an outdoor unit and a plurality of indoor units connected in parallel by the outdoor unit and the refrigerant pipe, wherein the outdoor unit includes a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an outdoor blower fan, and an air conditioning switch. The indoor unit includes an indoor heat exchanger and an indoor blowing fan, and each indoor unit includes an electromagnetic expansion valve installed in a refrigerant pipe connecting the outdoor heat exchanger and the indoor heat exchanger, and a refrigerant between the electromagnetic expansion valve and the indoor heat exchanger. A first non-power valve provided in the flow path, and a second non-power valve provided in the refrigerant path between the indoor heat exchanger and the air conditioning switch, wherein the first and second non-power valves are configured to open and close the valve case and the refrigerant path. A plunger installed to retract in the valve case and one end connected to the plunger for the retraction of the plunger. The other end is fixed to the valve case, characterized in that it comprises a shape memory member that is stretched in accordance with the temperature of the refrigerant.

The first and second non-powered valves may each include an elastic member installed in the valve case to pressurize the plunger in the direction of opening the refrigerant passage.

In addition, the shape memory member of the first non-power supply valve is deformed to pressurize the plunger when the temperature of the refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchanger rises above the first set temperature during the heating operation, so that the plunger closes the refrigerant flow path. It is characterized by that.

In addition, the shape memory member of the second non-power supply valve is deformed to pressurize the plunger when the temperature of the refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchanger falls below the second set temperature during the cooling operation, so that the plunger closes the refrigerant flow path. It is characterized by that.

In addition, the multi-type air conditioning system according to the present invention is characterized in that the electromagnetic expansion valve and the first non-powered valve are integrated.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 shows a multi-type air conditioning system to which a non-powered valve and an electromagnetic expansion valve are applied according to the present invention. As shown, the multi-type air conditioning system includes an outdoor unit 10 and a plurality of indoor units 20 connected to the outdoor unit 10 in parallel by refrigerant pipes 2, 3, 4, and 5.

The outdoor unit 10 includes an outdoor heat exchanger 11, an outdoor blower fan 12 that blows air to the outdoor heat exchanger 11, a compressor 13 for compressing refrigerant, and cooling and heating operations. It is provided with a heating and cooling switching valve 14 for switching.

Each indoor unit 20 includes an indoor heat exchanger 21, an indoor blower fan 22 that blows air to the indoor heat exchanger 21, an electronic expansion valve 30 for decompression expansion of a refrigerant, and an indoor heat exchanger. A first non-power supply valve 40 and a second non-power supply valve 50 respectively provided at the inlet side and the outlet side of the machine 22 are provided. The electromagnetic expansion valve 30 is installed in the refrigerant pipe connecting the outdoor heat exchanger 11 and the indoor heat exchanger 21, and the first non-power supply valve 40 is the electromagnetic expansion valve 30 and the indoor heat exchanger ( 30) is installed in the refrigerant flow path. The second non-power supply valve 50 is installed in the refrigerant passage between the indoor heat exchanger 21 and the air conditioning valve 14.

In FIG. 1, the solid arrow indicates the flow direction of the refrigerant when the cooling operation is performed, and the broken arrow shows the flow direction of the refrigerant when the heating operation is performed. The cooling operation and the heating operation are switched by changing the flow direction of the refrigerant by the operation of the air conditioning valve 14. The multi-type air conditioning system can perform cooling or heating only at a desired place by selectively operating the plurality of indoor units 20. Therefore, in the multi-type air conditioning system, the amount of refrigerant circulating must be adjustable according to the number of indoor units 20 that are operated. Therefore, a compressor having a variable compression capacity is employed.

As shown in FIG. 2, the electromagnetic expansion valve 30 installed in each indoor unit 20 is installed inside the valve case 31, the valve case 31 connected to the refrigerant pipe, and the rotor 33 and the stator. A step motor 32 having a 34 and an opening degree adjustment shaft 35 connected to the rotor 33 of the step motor 32 are provided. The opening adjustment shaft 35 has a male screw portion 35a coupled to the female screw portion 31a formed in the valve case 31, and has a conical end portion for adjusting the opening degree of the orifice 36 associated with the refrigerant passage. . The electromagnetic expansion valve 30 has an opening adjustment shaft 35 by the operation of the rotor 33 because the male screw portion 35a of the opening adjustment shaft 35 is coupled to the female screw portion 31a of the valve case 31. When the rotation is, the opening degree of the orifice 36 is adjusted while advancing the opening control shaft 35.

The first non-power supply valve 40 also includes a valve case 41 connected to the refrigerant pipe, a plunger 42 installed to retreat in the valve case 41 for opening and closing of the refrigerant flow path, and once for the retraction of the plunger 42. It is connected to the plunger 42 and the other end is fixed to the valve case 41 and includes a shape memory member 43 that is stretched in accordance with the temperature change of the refrigerant. The shape memory member 43 may be made of a conventional shape memory alloy. In addition, the valve case 41 is provided with a communication hole 46 for communicating the internal space 44 in which the shape memory member 43 is installed and the refrigerant passage 45. This is because the temperature of the circulating refrigerant is transmitted to the shape memory member 43 so that the shape memory member 43 can expand and contract as the temperature changes, thereby advancing and retracting the plunger 42. In the valve case 41, there is provided an elastic member 47 for pressing the plunger 42 in the direction in which the coolant passage 45 is opened. The elastic member 47 is made of a conventional compression coil spring.

Similar to the first non-powered valve 40, the second non-powered valve 50 also includes a valve case 51, a plunger 52, a shape memory member 53, an inner space 54, a coolant flow path 55, and a communication hole. 56, an elastic member 57 is provided. However, the shape memory member 43 of the first non-powered valve 40 and the shape memory member 53 of the second non-powered valve 50 have different temperatures for expansion and contraction.

The shape memory member 43 of the first non-power supply valve 40 is set to expand when the temperature of the refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchanger 21 rises above the first set temperature in the course of performing the heating operation. The first set temperature is set to a temperature higher than the temperature of the refrigerant condensed while passing through the indoor heat exchanger 21 when the heating operation is normally performed. For example, when the temperature of the refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchanger 21 during the heating operation is about 40 degrees, the first set temperature is set to about 45 degrees higher than this. This is because the normal heat exchange is not performed in the indoor heat exchanger 21 when the heating operation is performed, and when the refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchanger 21 rises above the first set temperature, the shape memory member 43 is elongated so that the plunger ( 42 is to close the refrigerant passage (45).

The shape memory member 53 of the second non-power supply valve 50 is set to extend when the temperature of the refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchanger 21 drops below the second set temperature in the course of performing the cooling operation. The second set temperature is set to a temperature lower than the temperature of the vaporized refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchanger 21 when the cooling operation is normally performed. For example, if the temperature of the refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchanger 21 is about 12 degrees during the cooling operation, the second set temperature is set to about 10 degrees lower than this. This is because the normal heat exchange is not performed in the indoor heat exchanger 21 when the cooling operation is performed, and when the refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchanger 21 falls below the second set temperature or less, the shape memory member 53 is extended, thereby plunging ( 52 to close the refrigerant passage (55).

FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention, in which the electromagnetic expansion valve 130 and the first non-power supply valve 140 are integrated. This is that the electronic expansion valve 130 and the non-powered valve 140 is accommodated in one valve case (100). This is to manufacture the electromagnetic expansion valve and the non-powered valve integrally to reduce the manufacturing cost, and to facilitate the installation of these.

The following describes the operation of the multi-type air conditioning system employing the non-powered valve of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the cooling operation, the cooling and heating switching valve 14 operates so that the refrigerant discharged from the compressor can be supplied toward the outdoor heat exchanger 11. Therefore, the high temperature and high pressure refrigerant compressed by the compressor 13 flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 11 to condense into a liquid refrigerant state through heat exchange with outside air, and the condensed refrigerant is the electronic expansion valve 30 of each indoor unit 20. After passing through the low pressure refrigerant is introduced into the indoor heat exchanger (21). The refrigerant introduced into the indoor heat exchanger (21) flows toward the compressor (13) after being evaporated into a gas state through heat exchange with indoor air.

When the normal cooling operation is performed as shown in FIG. 2, the refrigerant temperature at the side of the first non-power supply valve 40 passing through the electromagnetic expansion valve 30 is maintained at about 10 degrees, and the indoor heat exchanger 21 is maintained. The coolant temperature at the rough second non-powered valve 50 is approximately 12 degrees. Therefore, since the first non-power valve 40 is set to close the flow path when it rises above the first set temperature (about 45 degrees), the first non-power valve 40 maintains an open state, and the second non-power valve 50 maintains the second set temperature (about It is set to close the flow path when descending below 10 degrees), so it remains open.

When the indoor unit 20 is broken during the cooling operation and power is not supplied to the electronic expansion valve 30 and the indoor blower fan 22, since the heat exchange is hardly generated in the indoor heat exchanger 21, the second non-powered valve 50 Coolant temperature is lowered below the second set temperature (about 10 degrees). Therefore, at this time, as shown in FIG. 3, since the shape memory member 53 of the second non-power valve 50 extends and pushes the plunger 52, the refrigerant flow path 55 is automatically operated by the second non-power valve 50. Is closed. Therefore, since the refrigerant is not circulated toward the failed indoor unit, the entire system can be prevented from being unstable due to the influence of the failed indoor unit. That is, other indoor units and outdoor units can perform normal operation.

On the other hand, during the heating operation, the refrigerant circulates in the dashed arrow direction of FIG. 1. In this case, the cooling / heating switching valve 14 is operated so that the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 13 can be supplied toward the indoor heat exchanger 21. Therefore, the high temperature and high pressure refrigerant compressed by the compressor 13 is introduced into the plurality of indoor heat exchangers 21 and condensed into the liquid refrigerant state through heat exchange with the indoor air. The condensed refrigerant expands to low pressure while passing through the electronic expansion valve 30 of each indoor unit 20 and flows to the outdoor heat exchanger 11, and evaporates to the gas phase through heat exchange with outdoor air in the outdoor heat exchanger 11. And then flows toward the compressor (13).

As such, when the normal heating operation is performed, as shown in FIG. 4, the refrigerant temperature at the side of the second non-powered valve 50 passing through the electromagnetic expansion valve 30 is about 55 to 60 degrees, and the indoor heat exchanger 21 is maintained. The coolant temperature at the side of the first non-power supply valve 40 passed through) becomes approximately 40 degrees. Therefore, since the second non-power valve 50 is set to close the flow path when the temperature falls below the second set temperature (about 10 degrees), the second non-power valve 40 maintains an open state, and the first non-power valve 40 also maintains the first set temperature (about). It is set to close the flow path when it rises above 45 degrees), so it remains open.

When no power is supplied to the electronic expansion valve 30 and the indoor blower fan 22 due to a failure of any one of the indoor units 20 during the heating operation, since the heat exchange is hardly generated in the indoor heat exchanger 21, the first non-powered valve The coolant temperature on the 40 side rises above the first set temperature (about 45 degrees). Therefore, at this time, as shown in FIG. 5, since the shape memory member 43 of the first non-power valve 40 extends and pushes the plunger 42, the refrigerant passage 45 is closed by the first non-power valve 40. do. Therefore, since the refrigerant is not circulated toward the failed indoor unit, the entire system can be prevented from being unstable due to the influence of the failed indoor unit. That is, other indoor units and outdoor units can perform normal operation.

As described above in detail, the non-powered valve according to the present invention can advance and retract the plunger while the shape memory member is expanded and contracted according to the temperature change of the refrigerant, and the failure of the indoor unit can be caused by opening and closing the refrigerant passage by the retraction of the plunger. Even when the power is not supplied, there is an effect that can automatically shut off the refrigerant flow path to the indoor unit.

In addition, in the multi-type air conditioning system according to the present invention, if any one of the plurality of indoor units fails in the process of performing cooling or heating operation, the refrigerant path of the indoor unit is closed by the first or second non-powered valves. It can work normally.

Claims (13)

delete delete An expansion valve unit which is operated by an electrical operation means to control the opening degree of the refrigerant passage, and a non-powered valve unit which opens and closes the refrigerant passage according to a temperature change of the refrigerant flowing through the refrigerant passage, The non-powered valve unit includes an plunger for opening and closing the refrigerant passage by a forward and backward operation, and a shape memory member having one end coupled to the plunger for expansion and retraction of the plunger and stretched according to the temperature of the refrigerant. . The method of claim 3, And an integrated valve case accommodating the expansion valve portion and the non-powered valve portion. The method of claim 3, The non-powered valve unit further comprises an elastic member for pressing the plunger in the direction of opening the refrigerant passage. An outdoor unit includes a plurality of indoor units connected in parallel by the outdoor unit and the refrigerant pipe, wherein the outdoor unit includes a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, and an outdoor blower fan, and each indoor unit includes an indoor heat exchanger and an indoor blower fan. In the multi-type air conditioning system, Each indoor unit further includes an electronic expansion valve installed in the refrigerant pipe for guiding the refrigerant of the outdoor heat exchanger to the indoor heat exchanger, and a non-powered valve installed in the refrigerant pipe guiding the refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchanger to the compressor. The non-powered valve includes a valve case, a plunger installed in the valve case for opening and closing of the refrigerant passage, one end connected to the plunger and the other end fixed to the valve case for the advancement and retraction of the plunger, depending on the temperature of the refrigerant. Multi-type air conditioning system comprising a stretchable shape memory member. The method of claim 6, And an elastic member installed in the valve case to pressurize the plunger in the direction of opening the refrigerant passage. The method of claim 6, And the shape memory member is deformed to pressurize the plunger when the temperature of the coolant passing through the indoor heat exchanger falls below a set temperature so that the plunger closes the coolant flow path. An outdoor unit includes a plurality of indoor units connected in parallel by the outdoor unit and the refrigerant pipe, wherein the outdoor unit includes a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an outdoor blower fan, and an air conditioning switch, and each indoor unit includes an indoor heat exchanger and an indoor blower fan. In the multi-type air conditioning system comprising a, Each indoor unit includes an electromagnetic expansion valve installed in a refrigerant pipe connecting the outdoor heat exchanger and the indoor heat exchanger, a first non-power valve provided in a refrigerant flow path between the electromagnetic expansion valve and the indoor heat exchanger, and the indoor heat exchanger. It includes a second non-power supply valve provided in the refrigerant flow path between the air-conditioning switching valve, The first and second non-powered valves are provided with a valve case, a plunger installed in the valve case for opening and closing of the refrigerant passage, one end connected to the plunger for the retraction of the plunger, and the other end fixed to the valve case. And multi-type air conditioning system, characterized in that it comprises a shape memory member that is stretched in accordance with the temperature of the refrigerant. The method of claim 9, And the first and second non-powered valves each include an elastic member installed in the valve case to pressurize the plunger in a direction in which the refrigerant flow path is opened. The method of claim 9, The shape memory member of the first non-power supply valve is deformed to pressurize the plunger when the temperature of the refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchanger rises above the first set temperature during the heating operation so that the plunger closes the refrigerant flow path. Multi-type air conditioning system, characterized in that. The method of claim 9, The shape memory member of the second non-powered valve is deformed to pressurize the plunger when the temperature of the refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchanger falls below the second set temperature in the course of performing the cooling operation so that the plunger closes the refrigerant flow path. Multi-type air conditioning system, characterized in that. The method of claim 9, The multi-type air conditioning system, wherein the electromagnetic expansion valve and the first non-power supply valve are integrated.

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