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:
Jun. 26, 2001
Filed:
Jul. 08, 1999
Shunichi Furuya, Higashimatsuyama, JP;
Hiroshi Kanai, Higashimatsuyama, JP;
Zexel Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
In order to achieve an improvement in the efficiency of a refrigerating cycle and achieve quick and precise response to changes in the environment or the operating state while using carbon dioxide as a coolant, the refrigerating cycle according to the present invention is provided with a first expander and a second expander and further with a vapor-liquid separator provided between the first and second expanders. The components are arranged such that pressure of a vapor-phase coolant at high pressure, compressed by a compressor and cooled by a radiator, is reduced to an intermediate pressure level in a vapor-liquid two-phase range by the first expander. Then the coolant in a condition of a vapor-liquid mix is separated into a vapor-phase coolant by the vapor-liquid separator, so that only the liquid-phase coolant is expanded by the second expander, so that the vapor-phase coolant is taken into the intake side of the compressor while maintaining the intermediate pressure level. Therefore, no unnecessary energy is expended for compressing the vapor-phase coolant, and as a result, efficiency of the cycle may be improved.