JP2001116407A - Refrigerant recovery device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerant recovery device provided with a structure having no compressor mounted thereon, miniaturized, reduced in weight and favorable in cost, and capable of coping with any instrument employing another kind of lubricating oil. SOLUTION: A refrigerant recovery device is constituted of a recovering port 11a as well as an oil returning port 11b, connected to a three-way valve 8 and a two-way valve 9 which are equipped on an outdoor machine 1 of an air conditioner, an oil separator 13, connected to the recovery port 11a and the oil returning port 11b to separate lubricating oil from the refrigerant gas, a condenser 14 connected to the oil separator 13 to condense the refrigerant, a switching valve 16 installed in the connecting pipeline of the condenser 14 and the oil separator 13, a recovering vessel 17 for reserving the refrigerant liquefied in the condenser 14, and a non-return valve 18 as well as an opening and closing valve 19, installed in series in a connecting pipeline of the recovery vessel 17 and the condenser 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerant recovery device, and more particularly to a device for recovering refrigerant from an outdoor unit of an air conditioner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional refrigerant recovery apparatus is disclosed in
There is a technique disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hereinafter, the refrigerant recovery apparatus will be described with reference to a conventional example shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, the object to be recovered (air conditioner, etc.)
Reference numeral 31 is connected to a recovery port 33 of the refrigerant recovery device 32. When the on-off valve 34 is opened and the compressor 35 is started, the lubricating oil and the refrigerant in the to-be-recovered body 31 are sucked and stored in the oil separator 36 through the recovery port 33 and the on-off valve 34. The gas refrigerant separated from the lubricating oil in the oil separator 36 is discharged under high pressure by the compressor 35, condensed by the condenser 37 to become a liquid refrigerant, stored and collected in a collecting container 38 (such as a cylinder), and the lubricating oil is discharged. It is taken out from the valve 39 and the collection is completed.

However, in the case of the above configuration, the compressor 3
5 is disadvantageous in terms of cost and has a problem that the volume and the weight are increased. Also HCF
The combined use of the C refrigerant model and the HFC refrigerant model must be avoided because different types of lubricating oils are mixed and remain in the refrigerant recovery device 32.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has no compressor, is compact and lightweight, is advantageous in cost, and is compatible with equipment using different types of lubricating oil. It is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerant recovery device having a possible structure.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has a recovery port and an oil return port for connecting to a three-way valve and a two-way valve provided in an outdoor unit of an air conditioner. An oil separator connected to the recovery port and the oil return port to separate lubricating oil and refrigerant gas; a condenser connected to the oil separator to condense the refrigerant; and a connection line between the condenser and the oil separator. A collection valve for storing the refrigerant liquefied in the condenser, a check valve and an on-off valve connected in series to a connection line of the collection container and the condenser. It has become.

Further, a strainer for removing impurities in the refrigerant is provided between the condenser and the check valve.

[0007] A dryer for removing moisture in the refrigerant is provided between the condenser and the check valve.

[0008] Further, a three-way valve is used as the switching valve.

[0009] Further, an electromagnetic valve is used as the on-off valve.

In addition, the oil separator, the recovery port and the oil return port are integrally formed to form an oil separator portion, and the oil separator portion is configured to be detachable from the refrigerant recovery device main body.

The air in the refrigerant recovery device is evacuated from the switching valve immediately before refrigerant recovery.

The outdoor unit is provided with a refrigerant recovery switch for performing a forced heating operation.

Further, the refrigerant remaining in the refrigerant recovery device after the recovery of the refrigerant is recovered outside through the switching valve.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a refrigeration cycle of a general cooling and heating air conditioner as a device to be recovered using a refrigerant such as Freon in the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the refrigerant recovery device according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an outdoor unit, 2 is an indoor unit, 3 is a compressor mounted on the outdoor unit, 4 is a four-way valve that switches the flow of refrigerant discharged from the compressor in accordance with cooling operation, heating operation, and the like. 5 is an outdoor heat exchanger, 6 is an expansion valve, and 7 is an indoor heat exchanger. These are sequentially connected via a three-way valve 8 and a two-way valve 9 provided on the outdoor unit 1 side to constitute a refrigeration cycle. are doing.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a main body of the refrigerant recovery device. The main body 10 of the refrigerant recovery device includes an oil separator portion 11 and a refrigerant recovery portion 12. The oil separator part 1
1 is an oil separator 13 for separating lubricating oil and refrigerant gas
The oil separator 13 is connected to the three-way valve 8 of the outdoor unit 3 via a refrigerant recovery port 11a, and is connected to the two-way valve 9 via a lubricating oil return port 11b.

The refrigerant recovery section 12 includes a condenser 14 for condensing the refrigerant gas into a liquid refrigerant and a blower 15.
Is a switching valve 1 comprising the oil separator 13 and a three-way valve.
6 via a connection conduit. The condenser 14
Is connected to a collection container 17 such as a cylinder for storing the refrigerant liquefied in the condenser 14 by a connection pipe via a check valve 18 and an on-off valve 19 comprising an electromagnetic valve connected in series. It has become.

A strainer 20 for removing impurities in the refrigerant is provided in a connecting line between the condenser 14 and the check valve 18,
The configuration is such that a dryer 21 for removing moisture in the refrigerant is provided.

Further, the oil separator 13 and the recovery port
The oil separator 11 is formed integrally with the oil separator 11a and the oil return port 11b, and the oil separator 11 is made detachable from the main body 10 of the recovery device.
By replacing the oil separator section 11 for each type of oil used in the device to be recovered, it is possible to cope with different types of lubrication.

In the above configuration, after the air conditioner has been continuously operated for cooling for a predetermined time, the two-way valve 9 provided in the outdoor unit 1 is closed, and after a predetermined time has elapsed, the three-way valve 8 is closed. The refrigerant and the lubricating oil are sealed in the outdoor unit 1. Next, after disconnecting the connection pipe of the indoor unit 2 from the three-way valve 8 and the two-way valve 9 of the outdoor unit 1, the recovery port 11 is connected to the three-way valve 8.
a to the two-way valve 9 and an oil return port 11b.

Next, a vacuum pump (not shown) is connected to the switching valve 16 to evacuate the refrigerant recovery device 10. After the evacuation, the three-way valve 8 and the two-way valve 9 of the outdoor unit 1 are opened, and a refrigerant recovery switch provided in the outdoor unit 1 (not shown) is turned on, so that the outdoor unit 1 fully opens the expansion valve 6. Forced heating operation is performed. This makes it possible to recover the refrigerant even in summer when the outside air temperature is high.

The refrigerant containing the lubricating oil of the outdoor unit 1 flows into the oil separator 13 through the three-way valve 8 and the recovery port 11a, and the refrigerant and the lubricating oil are separated. The separated lubricating oil is returned to the compressor 4 from the oil return port 11b via the two-way valve 9 to prevent the compressor 4 from burning.

On the other hand, the refrigerant separated by the oil separator 13 is condensed by the condenser 14 to become a liquid refrigerant,
While passing through the strainer 20, the dryer 21, the check valve 18 and the on-off valve 19, impurities and moisture in the refrigerant are removed and stored in the recovery container 17 to be recovered.
After completion of the refrigerant recovery, the three-way valve 8 and the two-way valve 9 of the outdoor unit 1 are closed, the on-off valve 19 is closed, and the refrigerant recovery switch is turned off. As a result, the compressor 4 stops and the collection is completed. In addition, the refrigerant | coolant which remains in the said refrigerant | coolant collection apparatus 10 switches the said switching valve 16, and is collect | recovered outside.

As described above, according to the present invention, since no compressor is mounted, the apparatus is compact and lightweight, which is advantageous in terms of cost, facilitates carrying of the apparatus, and facilitates collection at the installation site of the air conditioner. Can be. In addition, since the oil separator section 11 is configured to be detachable from the recovery apparatus main body 10, the refrigerant recovery apparatus has a structure that can be applied to equipment using different types of lubricating oils such as HCFC refrigerant models and HFC refrigerant models.

[0024]

As described above, the present invention does not include a compressor, is compact and lightweight, is advantageous in cost, facilitates carrying of the device, and facilitates collection at the installation site of the air conditioner. it can. In addition, since the oil separator section is configured to be detachable from the main body of the recovery device, the refrigerant recovery device has a structure that can be applied to devices using different types of lubricating oils such as HCFC refrigerant models and HFC refrigerant models.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a refrigeration cycle diagram of an air conditioner serving as a device to be recovered according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a refrigerant recovery device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a conventional refrigerant recovery device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Outdoor unit 2 Indoor unit 3 Compressor 4 Four-way valve 5 Outdoor heat exchanger 6 Expansion valve 7 Indoor heat exchanger 8 Three-way valve 9 Two-way valve 10 Refrigerant recovery unit main body 11 Oil separator part 11a Recovery port 11b Oil return port 12 Refrigerant Recovery unit 13 Oil separator 14 Condenser 15 Blower 16 Switching valve (three-way valve) 17 Recovery container 18 Check valve 19 Open / close valve 20 Strainer 21 Dryer

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A recovery port and an oil return port for connecting to a three-way valve and a two-way valve provided in an outdoor unit of an air conditioner, and lubricating oil and refrigerant gas connected to the recovery port and the oil return port. An oil separator to be separated, a condenser connected to the oil separator to condense the refrigerant, a switching valve installed in a connection line between the condenser and the oil separator, and storing the refrigerant liquefied in the condenser. A refrigerant recovery device comprising: a recovery container; a check valve and an on-off valve connected in series to a connection pipe of the recovery container and the condenser. 2. The refrigerant recovery device according to claim 1, wherein a strainer for removing impurities in the refrigerant is provided between the condenser and the check valve. 3. The refrigerant recovery device according to claim 1, further comprising a dryer between the condenser and the check valve for removing moisture in the refrigerant. 4. The refrigerant recovery device according to claim 1, wherein a three-way valve is used as the switching valve. 5. The refrigerant recovery device according to claim 1, wherein an electromagnetic valve is used as the on-off valve. 6. An oil separator section, wherein the oil separator, the recovery port and the oil return port are integrally formed, and the oil separator section is detachable from a refrigerant recovery apparatus main body. The refrigerant recovery device according to claim 1. 7. The refrigerant recovery device according to claim 1, wherein the air in the refrigerant recovery device is evacuated from the switching valve immediately before refrigerant recovery. 8. The refrigerant recovery device according to claim 1, wherein the outdoor unit is provided with a refrigerant recovery switch for performing a forced heating operation. 9. The refrigerant recovery device according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerant remaining after the refrigerant recovery in the refrigerant recovery device is recovered to the outside through the switching valve.