Patent ID: 9441862
Filing Date: 2016-09-13
CPC Classification: F25B

Claim Text:
1. An air-conditioning apparatus comprising: a primary-side refrigerant circuit in which a compressor, first flow switching means, a heat source-side heat exchanger, an expansion mechanism, and an intermediate heat exchanger are connected by refrigerant pipes, and through which a primary-side refrigerant flows; and a secondary-side refrigerant circuit in which a pump, a use-side heat exchanger, second flow switching means, and the intermediate heat exchanger are connected by refrigerant pipes, and through which a secondary-side refrigerant different from the primary-side refrigerant flows, wherein the intermediate heat exchanger has a plurality of heat transfer units and third flow switching means, the heat transfer units perform heat exchange so that the primary-side refrigerant absorbs heat from the secondary-side refrigerant in a cooling operation, and that the primary-side refrigerant radiates heat to the secondary-side refrigerant in a heating operation, the first flow switching means switches a refrigerant flow path so that the primary-side refrigerant discharged from the compressor flows to the heat source-side heat exchanger in the cooling operation, and switches a refrigerant flow path so that the primary-side refrigerant discharged from the compressor flows to the intermediate heat exchanger in the heating operation, the second flow switching means switches a flow direction of the secondary-side refrigerant flowing into the intermediate heat exchanger, the third flow switching means switches a refrigerant flow path so that in the intermediate heat exchanger, a cross-sectional area of a refrigerant flow path through which the primary-side refrigerant flows becomes larger in the cooling operation than that of in the heating operation, the third flow switching means switches a refrigerant flow path in the cooling operation so that the primary-side refrigerant and the secondary-side refrigerant flow through the heat transfer units in parallel, and the third flow switching means switches a refrigerant flow path in the heating operation so that the primary-side refrigerant and the secondary-side refrigerant flow through the heat transfer units in series.