Johnson Controls Technology Company

Jerome Anthony Matter, Iii

Jeffrey Lee Tucker

The present disclosure is directed to a method of making a heat exchanger tube, such as multichannel tubes. The heat exchanger tube may include a plurality of generally parallel flow paths extending between opposite ends. The method may include removing a section of an outer wall along the length of the tube to expose at least some of the plurality of generally parallel flow paths.

Multichannel heat exchanger tubes with flow path inlet sections

A heat pump system is provided that includes a flow directing system that allows an outdoor heat exchanger to be switchable between a single-pass arrangement and a two-pass arrangement. The heat pump system includes an outdoor heat exchanger, an indoor heat exchanger, and a flow directing system of check valves and piping segments that enable switching of the outdoor heat exchanger between the single-pass and the two-pass arrangement. The outdoor heat exchanger is operable as a two-pass condenser in the cooling mode and as a single-pass evaporator in the heating mode.

Heat pump system with a flow directing system

The present disclosure is directed to heat exchangers with flow distribution manifolds divided into an inlet section and a distribution section by a distributor. The inlet section may have a relatively small cross-sectional area that promotes mixed phase flow of liquid and vapor refrigerant. The manifolds may be used with multichannel tubes with flow path inlet sections that allow refrigerant to enter the flow paths through an outer wall of the tubes. In certain embodiments, a portion of the outer wall is removed to expose the flow paths to a distribution chamber within the inlet manifold. The multichannel tubes extend into the distribution section to partition the distribution section into a series of distribution chambers defined by a pair of adjacent tubes, the distributor, and the inlet manifold. Within each distribution chamber, the refrigerant may be directed into the multichannel tubes through the inlet sections of the multichannel tubes.

Multichannel heat exchangers employing flow distribution manifolds

The present disclosure is directed to multichannel tubes with flow path inlet sections that allow refrigerant to enter the flow paths through an outer wall of the multichannel tubes. In certain embodiments, a portion of the outer wall is removed to expose the flow paths to a distribution chamber within an inlet manifold divided into an inlet section and a distribution section by a distributor. According to certain embodiments, the inlet section may be designed to have a relatively small cross-sectional area that promotes mixed phase flow of liquid and vapor refrigerant. The multichannel tubes extend into the distribution section to partition the distribution section into a series of distribution chambers defined by a pair of adjacent tubes, the distributor, and the inlet manifold. Within each distribution chamber, the refrigerant may be directed into the multichannel tubes through the flow path inlet sections of the multichannel tubes.

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Racine, WI, United States of America

Jerome Anthony Matter, Iii