The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 17, 1999
Filed:
Nov. 07, 1997
Seiji Inoue, Saitama Prefecture, JP;
Akihiko Takano, Saitama Prefecture, JP;
Zexel Corporation, , JP;
Abstract
A liquid tank used in an air-conditioning system to remove air and water from refrigerant received from a condenser 8 before passing it to an evaporator 11 comprises a tank body, a refrigerant inlet port and a refrigerant outlet port. In a first aspect of the invention which ensures excellent air-liquid separation, easy assembly, low cost, simple structure and ready mounting on the condenser 8, the refrigerant inlet port section 33 is formed at a lower portion of the tank body 31, the refrigerant outlet port section 34 is formed below the refrigerant inlet port section 33 and a cylindrical partition 32 is provided at a lower portion of the tank body 31 to stand higher than the refrigerant inlet port section 33 and define between itself and the inner wall of the tank body 31 an induction space 35 into which the refrigerant inlet port section 33 opens and define therein a liquid pooling space 36 with which the refrigerant outlet port section 34 communicates. In a second aspect of the invention which provides a degree of freedom in positioning the refrigerant outlet port, facilitates tubing and component layout, keeps cost down and ensures excellent assembly and fabrication property, the refrigerant inlet port 6 and the refrigerant outlet port 7 are formed in a head section 3 closing an upper opening of the tank body 2, a refrigerant takeoff tube 5 is disposed along the axis of the tank body 2, a large-diameter port 72 encompassing the refrigerant outlet port 7 is formed on an inner side of the head section 3, and the refrigerant takeoff tube 5 and the large-diameter port 72 are connected by a joint 71. In a third aspect which provides similar advantages, the refrigerant outlet port 7 is disposed at the center of the head section 3 and multiple refrigerant inlet ports 6 are disposed around the refrigerant outlet port 7.