US 12,345,452 B2
Combination valve unit and vehicle heat pump system
Jae Min Lee, Daejeon (KR); Young Man Kim, Daejeon (KR); In Hyeok Kim, Daejeon (KR); and Kyeong Cheol Lee, Daejeon (KR)
Assigned to Hanon Systems, Daejeon (KR)
Appl. No. 17/788,557
Filed by Hanon Systems, Daejeon (KR)
PCT Filed Jan. 25, 2021, PCT No. PCT/KR2021/000945
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jun. 23, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/153957, PCT Pub. Date Aug. 5, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 10-2020-0010988 (KR), filed on Jan. 30, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0048724 A1, Feb. 16, 2023
Int. Cl. F25B 41/31 (2021.01); B60H 1/32 (2006.01); F25B 41/37 (2021.01)
CPC F25B 41/31 (2021.01) [B60H 1/32 (2013.01); F25B 41/37 (2021.01); B60H 2001/3297 (2013.01)] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A combination valve unit, which is a means for throttling refrigerant of a heat pump system for a vehicle, the combination valve unit forming an inlet of a first decompression unit for cooling an interior of the vehicle, and an inlet of a second decompression unit for dehumidification for performing dehumidification of the interior of the vehicle;
wherein the first decompression unit for cooling includes a thermal expansion valve, the second decompression unit for dehumidification includes an orifice, and the thermal expansion valve and the orifice are formed integrally with one valve body.
 
2. A combination valve unit, which is a means for throttling refrigerant of a heat pump system for a vehicle, the combination valve unit forming an inlet of a first decompression unit for cooling the interior of the vehicle, and an inlet of a second decompression unit for dehumidification for performing dehumidification of the interior of the vehicle;
wherein the first decompression unit for cooling has an expansion passage connected to a refrigerant line at an inlet side of an evaporator to expand the refrigerant; and
wherein a dehumidification line is connected to the second decompression unit for dehumidification, and a bypass passage is disposed so that refrigerant flowing through the dehumidification line bypasses the expansion passage to be supplied to the evaporator.
 
4. A combination valve unit, which is a means for throttling refrigerant of a heat pump system for a vehicle, the combination valve unit forming an inlet of a first decompression unit for cooling the interior of a vehicle, and an inlet of a second decompression unit for dehumidification for performing dehumidification of the interior;
a first passage through which the refrigerant supplied to the evaporator flows and which has an expansion passage between an inlet and an outlet;
a second passage having an inlet and an outlet through which the refrigerant discharged from the evaporator flows;
a valve body controlling a flow rate of the refrigerant passing through the expansion passage;
a rod sliding according to a temperature change of the refrigerant to and lifting the valve body up and down; and
a bypass formed to communicate with the outlet of the first passage which is the downstream side of the expansion passage.
 
7. A heat pump system for a vehicle which includes: a compressor compressing and discharging refrigerant; a first heat exchanger radiating heat of the refrigerant discharged from the compressor; a first expansion valve selectively expanding the refrigerant passing through the first heat exchanger; a second heat exchanger exchanging heat between the refrigerant passing through the first expansion valve and a heat medium; and an evaporator disposed in an air conditioning case to exchange heat between the refrigerant and air in the air conditioning case, the heat pump system comprising:
a combination valve unit having a first decompression unit for cooling the refrigerant supplied to the evaporator and a second decompression unit for dehumidification;
a refrigerant line circulating the refrigerant to the compressor, the first heat exchanger, the first expansion valve, the second heat exchanger, the combination valve unit, and the evaporator;
a first bypass line diverging between the second heat exchanger and the combination valve unit and bypassing the evaporator; and
a dehumidification line diverging from the refrigerant line and bypassing the second heat exchanger to supply the refrigerant to the evaporator.
 
15. A heat pump system for a vehicle which includes:
a compressor compressing and discharging refrigerant; a first heat exchanger radiating heat of the refrigerant discharged from the compressor; a first expansion valve selectively expanding the refrigerant passing through the first heat exchanger; a second heat exchanger exchanging heat between the refrigerant passing through the first expansion valve and a heat medium; an evaporator disposed in an air conditioning case to exchange heat between the refrigerant and air in the air conditioning case; and a combination valve unit having a first decompression unit for cooling the refrigerant to the evaporator and a second decompression unit for dehumidification, the heat pump system comprising:
a refrigerant line circulating the refrigerant to the compressor, the first heat exchanger, the first expansion valve, the second heat exchanger, the combination valve unit, and the evaporator;
a first bypass line diverging between the second heat exchanger and the combination valve unit and bypassing the evaporator; and
a dehumidification line diverging from the refrigerant line and bypassing the second heat exchanger to supply the refrigerant to the evaporator,
wherein the dehumidification line diverges upstream from the first expansion valve.