(19)
(11) EP 1 067 340 A3

(12) EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION

(88) Date of publication A3:
04.07.2001 Bulletin 2001/27

(43) Date of publication A2:
10.01.2001 Bulletin 2001/02

(21) Application number: 00114304.9

(22) Date of filing: 04.07.2000
(51) International Patent Classification (IPC)7: F24F 1/02, F25B 41/00, F25B 45/00
(84) Designated Contracting States:
AT BE CH CY DE DK ES FI FR GB GR IE IT LI LU MC NL PT SE
Designated Extension States:
AL LT LV MK RO SI

(30) Priority: 05.07.1999 JP 19002899

(71) Applicant: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
Kadoma-shi, Osaka 571-8501 (JP)

(72) Inventors:
  • Numoto, Hironao
    Otsu-shi, Shiga 520-2101 (JP)
  • Sato, Shigehiro
    Kusatsu-shi, Shiga 525-0045 (JP)
  • Watanabe, Yukio, Room 1108, Co-op Nomura
    Minami-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto 601-8037 (JP)
  • Takeuchi, Hiroyuki
    Otsu-shi, Shiga 520-2264 (JP)
  • Nakatsuno, Eiji
    Otsu-shi, Shiga 520-2276 (JP)

(74) Representative: Körfer, Thomas, Dipl.-Phys. et al
Mitscherlich & Partner, Patent- und Rechtsanwälte, Sonnenstrasse 33
80331 München
80331 München (DE)

   


(54) Replacing gas collecting trap for an air conditioner


(57) This invention relates to a replacing gas collecting trap apparatus used for installing an air conditioner, an outdoor unit includes a compressor and an outdoor unit heat exchanger and refrigerant gas is charged into both of the compressor and the outdoor unit exchanger, an indoor unit includes an indoor unit heat exchanger which is opened into atmosphere, and a connecting pipe connecting the outdoor unit and the indoor unit, that is comprised of: a trap container body; a gas trap agent charged in said trap container for absorbing and collecting a replacing gas which has replaced air in said indoor unit heat exchanger and said connecting pipe through a connecting apparatus, wherein a volume of space inside said trap container is larger than the volume of inner space of said connecting apparatus. By this configuration, when the collecting trap apparatus is connected to the refrigeration cycle, by the volume of the space of negative pressure inside the apparatus, the air inside the connecting apparatus and the replacing gas contained in the connecting pipes are inhaled at one go to the collecting trap apparatus, then collected to the gas trap agent by physical absorption or chemical reaction.






Search report