US 12,313,310 B2
Refrigerant flow path switching device and air conditioning system
Kazuki Ikari, Osaka (JP); Naoyuki Ohta, Osaka (JP); Hiroyuki Imada, Osaka (JP); and Junichi Shimoda, Osaka (JP)
Assigned to DAIKIN INDUSTRIES, LTD., Osaka (JP)
Filed by DAIKIN INDUSTRIES, LTD., Osaka (JP)
Filed on Mar. 15, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/694,961.
Application 17/694,961 is a continuation of application No. PCT/JP2020/033373, filed on Sep. 3, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 2019-172427 (JP), filed on Sep. 24, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0205693 A1, Jun. 30, 2022
Int. Cl. F25B 41/26 (2021.01); F25B 5/02 (2006.01); F25B 13/00 (2006.01)
CPC F25B 41/26 (2021.01) [F25B 5/02 (2013.01); F25B 13/00 (2013.01); F25B 2313/02732 (2013.01); F25B 2400/13 (2013.01); F25B 2600/2513 (2013.01); F25B 2600/2519 (2013.01)] 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A refrigerant flow path switching device comprising:
a first header pipe that is connected to a high-and-low-pressure gas connection pipe of an outdoor unit in an air conditioner;
a second header pipe that is connected to a sucked-gas connection pipe of the outdoor unit;
a third header pipe that is connected to a liquid connection pipe of the outdoor unit;
switching units that each:
correspond respectively to indoor units in the air conditioner, and
comprise valves that control refrigerant flows; and
a casing accommodating: the first header pipe, the second header pipe, the third header pipe, and the switching units, wherein
the refrigerant flow path switching device switches among refrigerant flow paths, each of which is between the outdoor unit and one of the indoor units,
an end of the first header pipe, an end of the second header pipe, and an end of the third header pipe project outward from the casing and are aligned linearly in a first direction, the first direction being a height direction of the refrigerant flow path switching device,
the valves are disposed apart from the end of the first header pipe in a second direction that is perpendicular to both of the first direction and a direction in which the end of the first header pipe extends, and
the valves include:
a first valve connected to the first header pipe via a first refrigerant tube; and
a second valve connected to the second header pipe via a second refrigerant tube and that is disposed at a same position in the first direction as the first valve.