AUTOMATIC REFRIGERANT FILLING

Abstract

A valve controller (1) for filling a refrigerating circuit with refrigerant includes a valve (2), a temperature sensor (3), a pressure sensor (4) and a controller (5). The controller (5) is configured to calculate a parameter from the measurement data of the temperature sensor (3) and/or the pressure sensor (4), and the controller (5) is further configured to activate the valve (2) until the calculated parameter has reached a target value.

Claims

1. A valve controller (1) for filling a refrigerating circuit with refrigerant, the valve controller comprising: a valve (2), a temperature sensor (3), a pressure sensor (4), a controller (5) configured to calculate a parameter from at least one of measurement data of the temperature sensor (3) or the pressure sensor (4), and the controller (5) is further configured to activate the valve (2) until the calculated parameter has reached a target value.

2. The valve controller (1) as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a memory (7) that stores thermodynamic data on a refrigerant, the controller being configured to includes said data in the calculation performed by the controller (5) and to choose between different refrigerants.

3. The valve controller (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the temperature sensor (3) or the pressure sensor (4) is wirelessly connected to the controller (5), and data transmission take place at least one of on a number of radio channels simultaneously or at time intervals of less than ten seconds.

4. The valve controller (1) as claimed in claim 1, further comprising at least one of a flow sensor (11) or a balance (12) arranged to determine an amount of refrigerant delivered into the refrigerating circuit, the controller being configured to receive and process measurement data from the at least one of the flow sensor (11) or the balance (12).

5. The valve controller (1) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the balance (12) is provided, and a weighing platform (13) is formed on the balance (12) as a standing surface for a cylinder (14).

6. The valve controller (1) as claimed in claim 5, wherein a largest dimension (16) of the weighing platform (13) corresponds to a largest dimension (18) of the standing area (19) of a cylinder (14).

7. The valve controller (1) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the largest diameter of the weighing platform is a diagonal (17), and a largest diameter of the standing area of the cylinder is a diameter (20) of the cylinder (14).

8. The valve controller (1) as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an input unit (8) configured for a user to establish at least one of target parameters, filling amounts or other data describing at least one of the refrigerating circuit, the refrigerant, or the filling operation.

9. The valve controller (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller (5) is configured to control the filling operation in dependence on an amount of refrigerant delivered.

10. The valve controller (1) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the controller (5) is configured to iteratively control the filling operation.

11. The valve controller (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller (5) is configured to detect an inadmissible state, including at least one of filling with an excessive amount of refrigerant or an occurrence of leakages.

12. The valve controller (1) as claimed in claim 11, wherein the controller (5) is configured to at least one of inform a user or interrupt a filling operation when the inadmissible state is detected.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0046] The invention will now be described in more detail on the basis of an exemplary embodiment, but is not restricted to the exemplary embodiment. Further exemplary embodiments are provided by combining the features of one or more of the claims with one another and/or with one or more features of the exemplary embodiment.

[0047] In the figures:

[0048] FIG. 1 shows a valve controller according to the invention with its components in a schematic representation, and

[0049] FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of the relative sizes of a cylinder and a balance of a valve controller according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0050] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of the various components of a valve controller 1 according to the invention for filling a refrigerating circuit with refrigerant. The valve controller 1 comprises a valve 2, a temperature sensor 3, a pressure sensor 4, a controller 5, a flow sensor 11 and also a balance 12. Multiple components of the valve controller 1 may also be formed together as one unit. In this exemplary embodiment, the valve 2 is a solenoid valve. The controller 5 is formed on a portable handheld device 6, which also comprises a memory 7, an input unit 8 and an output unit 9. The controller is set up to calculate a parameter from the measurement data of the temperature sensor 3 and the pressure sensor 4. The controller 5 activates the valve 2 until the calculated parameter has reached a target value. The memory 7 keeps thermodynamic data on a number of refrigerants, which data are included in the calculation performed by the controller 5. The input unit 8 can be used to choose between different refrigerants. The input unit 8 makes it possible to select target parameters and filling amounts and to establish other data describing the refrigerating circuit, the refrigerant and the filling operation. The respective components of the valve controller 1 are wirelessly connected to one another by way of antennas 10. The data transmission takes place on a number of radio channels simultaneously and at time intervals of less than 10 seconds. The flow sensor 11 and the balance 12 are set up to determine the amount of refrigerant delivered into the refrigerating circuit. This involves the measurement data of the flow sensor 11 and of the balance 12 being processed by the controller 5. Formed on the balance 12 is a weighing platform 13, which serves as a standing surface for a cylinder 14. The cylinder 14 contains the refrigerant to be introduced. The refrigerant can be delivered into the refrigerating circuit by way of a connection 15. The cylinder stands with its standing area 19 on the weighing platform 13 of the balance 12. The controller 5 is also set up to control the filling operation in dependence on the amount of refrigerant delivered and can perform the filling operation iteratively. The controller 5 is also capable of detecting inadmissible states, for example filling with an excessive amount of refrigerant or the occurrence of leakages. The controller 5 is set up to inform the user when an inadmissible state is detected and, in this case, to interrupt the filling operation.

[0051] FIG. 2 shows in a schematic representation a plan view of a cylinder 14, which has a round cross-sectional area and also a connection 15. The cylinder 14 stands on a square weighing platform 13, which is indicated by dashed lines. It can be seen in particular that a largest dimension 16 of the weighing platform 13, specifically a diagonal 17 of the weighing platform 13, corresponds to a largest dimension 18 of the standing area 19 of the cylinder 14, specifically a diameter 20 of the cylinder 14.

TABLE-US-00001 List of Designations 1 Valve controller 2 Valve 3 Temperature sensor 4 Pressure sensor 5 Controller 6 Handheld device 7 Memory 8 Input unit 9 Output unit 10 Antenna 11 Flow sensor 12 Balance 13 Weighing platform 14 Cylinder 15 Connection 16 Largest dimension 17 Diagonal 18 Largest dimension 19 Standing area 20 Diameter