US 12,474,073 B2
Safety system and method for constructing air conditioning system
David Steen, Ostend (BE); Kevin Cornelis, Ostend (BE); Arne Degrande, Ostend (BE); Yuusuke Nakagawa, Ostend (BE); and Harshit Tanwar, Ostend (BE)
Assigned to DAIKIN INDUSTRIES, LTD., Osaka (JP); and DAIKIN EUROPE N.V., Ostend (BE)
Appl. No. 18/021,305
Filed by DAIKIN INDUSTRIES, LTD., Osaka (JP); and DAIKIN EUROPE N.V., Ostend (BE)
PCT Filed Sep. 15, 2021, PCT No. PCT/JP2021/034004
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Feb. 14, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/059723, PCT Pub. Date Mar. 24, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 20196177 (EP), filed on Sep. 15, 2020; and application No. 21196531 (EP), filed on Sep. 14, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0221024 A1, Jul. 13, 2023
Int. Cl. F24F 11/36 (2018.01); F24F 1/0068 (2019.01); F24F 11/84 (2018.01)
CPC F24F 11/36 (2018.01) [F24F 1/0068 (2019.02); F24F 11/84 (2018.01)] 26 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A safety system comprising:
a plurality of valve units in a heat pump system, each of the valve units having
at least one liquid refrigerant pipe portion,
at least one gas refrigerant pipe portion,
at least one liquid control valve disposed in the liquid refrigerant pipe portion,
at least one gas control valve disposed in the gas refrigerant pipe portion,
a casing accommodating at least the liquid control valve and the gas control valve and formed with at least two openings, and
a refrigerant leakage sensor configured to detect an occurrence of a refrigerant leakage in an internal space of the casing;
a connection structure comprising a plurality of individual ducts connecting the internal spaces of the casings via the openings; and
a discharge structure connected to the connection structure or one of the casings,
and configured to discharge air from the internal space of the casing in which a refrigerant leakage has occurred, wherein
the casing of each valve units has first and second lateral faces facing different directions, and
in each of the valve units, a first opening as one of the openings is formed in the first lateral face and a second opening as another one of the openings is formed in the second lateral face.