Accumulator, optionally in combination with an internal heat exchanger in a shared housing

Abstract

An accumulator in combination with an internal heat exchanger in a shared housing, the accumulator including a cyclone for separation of the gas and liquid phase of a refrigerant, wherein the cyclone includes two separate, curved flow paths, one of which leads from an inlet on the cover side whose direction of flow is closer to the axial than the radial direction of the cyclone into the accumulator and radially outwards, and the other of which leads outwards from an end facing away from the cover.

Claims

1. An accumulator comprising: a cyclone having a spiral flow path through which a refrigerant flows; a housing having an open end and accommodating the cyclone; a cover coupled to the open end of the housing and having an inlet for introducing the refrigerant into the cyclone closer to an axial direction than a radial direction of the cyclone, a separator accommodated in the housing and separating the refrigerant introduced from the cyclone into a gas phase and a liquid phase; and a spiral tube accommodated in the housing and through which a medium for heat exchange with the refrigerant in the gas phase separated in the separator flows; wherein the cyclone further comprises: two separate, spiral flow paths, a first one of the flow paths leads the refrigerant from the inlet into an inside of the separator and radially outwards, and a second one of the flow paths leads the refrigerant from an end of the cyclone facing away from the cover into the spiral tube.

2. The accumulator according to claim 1, wherein the direction of flow of the refrigerant at the inlet is within 45 degrees of the axial direction of the cyclone.

3. The accumulator according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the flow paths is spiral at least in some portions.

4. The accumulator according to claim 1, wherein the cyclone has two windows for discharging the refrigerant in the first one of the flow paths into the inside of the separator and discharging the refrigerant in the second one of the flow paths into the spiral tube, respectively.

5. The accumulator according to claim 1, wherein the flow paths are separated from one another by a single partition.

6. The accumulator according to claim 1, wherein at at least one of the two windows, a partition is oriented substantially perpendicularly to an axis of the cyclone.

7. The accumulator according to claim 1, wherein the cyclone is produced from plastic.

8. The accumulator according to claim 1, wherein the cyclone is produced from a polymer.

9. The accumulator according to claim 1, wherein the cyclone is injection-moulded or printed in 3D.

10. The accumulator according to claim 1, wherein the cover has a single flow path for the refrigerant.

11. The accumulator according to claim 1, wherein the cover is produced in an asymmetric form.

12. An accumulator comprising: a cyclone having a spiral flow path through which a refrigerant flows; a housing having an open end and accommodating the cyclone; a cover coupled to the open end of the housing and having an inlet for introducing the refrigerant into the cyclone closer to an axial direction than a radial direction of the cyclone; and a separator accommodated in the housing and separating the refrigerant introduced from the cyclone into a gas phase and a liquid phase; wherein the cyclone further comprises: two separate, spiral flow paths, a first one of the flow paths leads the refrigerant from the inlet into an inside of the separator and radially outwards, and a second one of the flow paths leads the refrigerant from an end of the cyclone facing away from the cover into an accumulator outlet formed in the cover.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Exemplary embodiments of the invention as represented in the figures are explained in more detail below. Illustrations:

(2) FIG. 1 Section through a part of the accumulator according to the invention with a heat exchanger and cyclone.

(3) FIG. 2 Perspective cross-section view according to FIG. 1.

(4) FIG. 3 Representation of the cyclone used in the arrangement of FIGS. 1 and 2.

(5) FIG. 4 Section through an accumulator according to the invention without a heat exchanger.

(6) FIG. 5 Section through the upper area according to FIG. 4.

(7) FIG. 6 Perspective representation of the cyclone used in the arrangement of FIGS. 4 and 5.

Mode For The Invention

(8) As can be seen in FIG. 1, the accumulator 10 according to the invention with a heat exchanger initially comprises a housing 24 and a cover 20. Within the housing 24, a spiral tube 26 is provided which serves to allow the passage of a medium, typically a high-temperature refrigerant, with which the refrigerant flowing out of the cyclone and typically having a low temperature exchanges heat. The heat exchanger is thereby formed by the housing 24, a first middle tube 58, the spiral tube 26 located between them, the cover 20 and a bottom not visible in the figure. The separator 28 is located within the middle tube 58, and the cover 20, the bottom and the housing 24 form the pressure vessel or the pressure container for the accumulator 10 combined with a heat exchanger.

(9) Thereby provided radially within is the separator 28 in whose radial outer area the gas phase is separated from the liquid phase by means of centrifugal force. This is indicated by the droplets located radially outside. In the lower area not shown of the separator 28, a defined quantity of oil is added to the gas flow that is indicated by the arrow 30. Out of this lower area, the gas is led upwards through the inner tube 32 of the separator 28 after, as mentioned, having been led outside the inner tube 32 and within a middle tube 34 to the lower area.

(10) At the (upper) outlet of the inner tube 32 a deflector (56, cf. FIGS. 2, 5 and 6) connected with it can be provided. FIG. 1 shows the cyclone 12, the inlet for which is to be described first. This is supplied with refrigerant by a flow path provided in the cover 20, whereby the flow path is significantly closer to the axial (vertical in the figure) direction than the radial direction of the cyclone. The refrigerant flow is given to rotate by a suitable design of the partition 22 so that the refrigerant, as indicated by the arrow 36, flows radially into the separator 28 and the liquid phase is separated and stored. The flow of the gas phase in the direction of the arrow 30 between the tubes 32, 34 to the (lower) second inlet of the cyclone, which inlet faces away from the cover 20, has already been described. The gas phase subsequently flows through the inner tube and to the heat exchanger as indicated by the arrow 16 and leaves the accumulator through an outlet, not shown, on the bottom. This is where the inlet for the high-pressure medium is located.

(11) According to the invention, the gas thereby enters the cyclone 12 in a substantially axial direction from below and substantially centrally according to the figures, and through the design of the cyclone is given to rotate again, so that it flows radially out of the separator 28 as indicated by the arrow 16 and into the area of the spiral tube 26. As can be seen, the cyclone 12 thereby causes two flows in substantially opposing directions and the cover 20 can be executed comparatively simply, since it can have a single flow path for refrigerant and as the case may be an outlet 38, which can be seen to be substantially vertical in the figure, for the high-pressure medium, but is executed comparatively simply.

(12) A part of the construction shown in FIG. 1 is again represented in FIG. 2. The cover 20, the cyclone connected thereto, its first flow path 14, the second flow path 16 and the partition 22 located between them can be seen. The first flow path 14 extends from the inlet 18 substantially towards the observer, so that the flow (as seen from the cover) is given to rotate anticlockwise in the direction of the window 42 described below. In contrast, the flow coming from the inner tube 32 rotates clockwise and leaves the cyclone 12 to a certain extent through a window 40 leading to the spiral tube 26 of the heat exchanger. For the first flow path 14 is provided a similar window 42 through which the mixed gas and liquid flow flows into the separator 28 and in particular that area in which the liquid is separated. The figures also show that the housing 24, the spiral tube 26, the outer tube 58 of the separator 28, the middle tube 34, the inner tube 32 and the cyclone 12 are all disposed coaxially, although it is just as conceivable that only some or only two of the components mentioned are arranged coaxially to one another.

(13) FIG. 3 represents the cyclone 12 alone, and its inlet 18 and the window 40 leading out of the separator 28 to the heat exchanger and forming the outlet of the separator 28 can be seen. For a defined assembly the cyclone 12 comprises a collar or flange 44, and the substantially cylindrical design of the cyclone and the spiral form of the flow paths caused by the top side of the cyclone outside the inlet 18 can be seen.

(14) The accumulator 100 without a heat exchanger shown in FIG. 4 in turn comprises a cover 20, a cyclone 12, a housing 24 and a middle tube 34 that could also be arranged eccentrically. The housing 24 is provided with a bottom 46 that can be a separate component. The cover 20 comprises a fitting with the necessary inlet and outlet openings and in the case shown is designed identically to the cover of FIGS. 1 and 2. The inlet and outlet of the actual accumulator are integrated into the cyclone 12.

(15) The cover 20 and the cyclone 12 (see also FIG. 6) are shown more precisely in FIG. 5. Additionally, 48 is a fitting with an accumulator outlet and 50 a fitting with an accumulator inlet. The flow path 14 for the inlet flow is indicated similarly to FIG. 1 and leads the mixed gas and liquid flow through the window 42 in a substantially spiral formation to the outside of the middle tube 34 in order to separate the liquid phase there through the centrifugal forces generated by the spiral flow. As indicated by the arrows 30, the gas phase is sucked between the middle tube 34 and the inner tube 32 in the direction of the bottom, where the two tubes 32, 34 are connected. A distributor with an integrated filter through which oil can enter in order to add a defined quantity of oil to the gas phase of the refrigerant is also provided at this lower position in the figures. Furthermore, it should be mentioned that the two tubes 32, 34 are also connected to one another in the area of the cyclone 12 by means of a deflector (56, see FIG. 6). In particular, in the case shown the inner tube 32 and the middle tube 34 are connected with the deflector described below and the upper end of the middle tube 34 is located in a defined position relative to the deflector.

(16) The gas phase is led through the inner tube 32 in the direction of the accumulator outlet 48. In the further course, the opposite side of the spiral track existing in the cyclone for the inlet flow 14 is used in order to lead the gaseous refrigerant to the (in this case) central outlet 48, as indicated by the arrow 52. This outlet substantially corresponds to the window 40 in FIGS. 2 and 3. In the case shown, the cyclone has at its end pointing towards the cover 20 an expanded collar 54 into which a correspondingly inclined portion of the cover 20 is inserted. However, other designs for this connection are also conceivable. At the opposite end facing away from the cover 20 the underside of the cyclone 12 is executed in a rounded concave form in order to deflect in a suitable manner in this area the flow indicated by means of the arrows 30. In addition, this purpose is served by the deflectors 56 also visible in FIG. 6 and distributed at regular intervals around the circumference. The deflectors 56 are formed on a separate component, which in particular allows the cyclone 12 to be manufactured by means of injection moulding, for instance, but to be combined with the deflector component to form a single unit. The component having the deflectors 56 can also be provided in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 and is identified in FIG. 2.

(17) FIG. 6 also shows the window 42 leading in this case to the interior of the accumulator and through which the refrigerant leaves the cyclone 12, so that in the further course of the flow the separation of liquid can take place as a result of the centrifugal forces.

(18) The invention relates to an accumulator having a cyclone for separation of the gas and liquid phase of a refrigerant, in particular of a vehicle air-conditioning system.