Patent Publication Number: US-6668572-B1

Title: Air conditioner having hot/cold water producing device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2002-46370, filed Aug. 06, 2002, in the Korean Industrial Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to an air conditioner having a hot/cold water producing device, capable of heating or cooling room air in accordance with a selected mode. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Generally, there has been widely used a method of heating water by heat generated when burning fossil fuel or of heating water using an electric heater, in a hot water producing device. In addition, there has been proposed a hot water producing device using the principle of an air conditioner. Such a hot water producing device is designed such that a refrigerant is compressed in a compressor to produce a refrigerant having a high temperature and a high pressure, and heat is transferred from the high temperature refrigerant to water so as to heat the water. 
     Such a conventional hot water producing device using the principle of an air conditioner will be described in the following with reference to FIG.  1 . As shown in the FIG. 1, a refrigerant is compressed to produce a refrigerant having a high temperature and a high pressure in a compressor  102 . Thereafter, the refrigerant sequentially passes a hot water producing heat exchanger  104 , an expansion valve  106 , and an evaporator  108 , and then returns to the compressor  102 . In the hot water producing heat exchanger  104 , heat is transferred from the refrigerant to water. That is, relatively low temperature water absorbs the heat from the high temperature refrigerant, so the temperature of the refrigerant is reduced and the temperature of water is increased. While the refrigerant fed from the hot water producing heat exchanger  104  sequentially passes the expansion valve  106  and the evaporator  108 , the phase of the refrigerant is changed to a gaseous phase with a low temperature and a low pressure, and the gaseous refrigerant then returns to the compressor  102 . 
     Water, absorbing heat from the refrigerant in the hot water heat exchanger  104 , is stored in a hot water storage tank  112 . The stored hot water is supplied to a required place through a hot water supply pipe (not shown). When water of the hot water storage tank  112  is consumed, water is replenished from an external water supply source. A circulation pump  110  is used to forcibly circulate water between the hot water storage tank  112  and the hot water producing heat exchanger  104 . 
     Such a conventional hot water producing device using a refrigerant uses the principle and the basic construction of an air conditioner, but does not provide an air-conditioning effect. Further, the conventional hot water producing device serves to produce only hot water, so it is not versatile and is inefficient to use. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide an air conditioner, which is provided with a hot/cold water producing device in addition to a hot water producing device, thus heating or cooling room air in addition to supplying hot water. 
     Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. 
     The foregoing and other aspects of the present invention are achieved by providing an air conditioner comprising a compressor compressing a refrigerant to produce a high temperature gaseous refrigerant, a hot water producing device to produce hot water by performing a heat exchanging process whereby heat is transferred between water and the high temperature refrigerant fed from the compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger performing a heat exchanging process whereby heat is transferred between the refrigerant and outside air, and a hot/cold water producing device to produce hot water by performing a heat exchanging process whereby heat is transferred between water and the refrigerant fed from the hot water producing device, or to produce cold water by performing a heat exchanging process whereby heat is transferred between water and the refrigerant fed from the outdoor heat exchanger. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: 
     The above and other aspects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a view showing a conventional hot water producing device using a refrigerant; 
     FIG. 2 is a view showing the construction of an air conditioner having a hot/cold water producing device according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3A is a view showing a refrigeration cycle of the air conditioner having the hot/cold water producing device according to FIG. 2, in a cooling mode; and 
     FIG. 3B is a view showing a refrigeration cycle of the air conditioner having the hot/cold water producing device according to FIG. 2, in a heating mode. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. 
     An air conditioner having a hot/cold water producing device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in the following with reference to FIGS. 2,  3 A and  3 B. FIG. 2 is a view showing the construction of the air conditioner having the hot/cold water producing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, a compressor  202  compresses a refrigerant to produce a gaseous refrigerant having a high temperature and a high pressure. A hot water producing device  204  serves as a heat exchanger to produce hot water by performing a heat exchanging process whereby heat is transferred from the high temperature refrigerant fed from the compressor  202  to a relatively low temperature water. The air conditioner of FIG. 2 uses carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) as the refrigerant in an effort to reduce environmental contamination. 
     Hot water produced in the hot water producing device  204  is stored in a hot water storage tank  216 . A first circulation pump  214  is installed to smoothly circulate water between the hot water producing device  204  and the hot water storage tank  216 . A four-way valve  206  controls the flowing direction of the refrigerant according to a selected operational mode of the air conditioner of this invention, that is, a cooling mode or a heating mode such that the refrigerant from the hot water producing device  204  is fed to an outdoor heat exchanger  208  or a hot/cold water producing device  212 . In a cooling mode, the outdoor heat exchanger  208  performs a heat exchanging process whereby heat is transferred from the gaseous refrigerant having a high temperature and a high pressure to outside air so as to produce a high pressure gaseous refrigerant which still has a higher temperature than that of the outside air. The refrigerant is, thereafter, fed to an expansion valve  210  where the pressure of the refrigerant fed from the outdoor heat exchanger  208  is reduced. On the other hand, in a heating mode, the expansion valve  210  reduces the pressure of a refrigerant fed from the hot/cold water producing device  212 . 
     The hot/cold water producing device  212  is a heat exchanger to produce hot or cold water by performing a heat exchanging process whereby heat is transferred between a high or low temperature refrigerant and water. The hot/cold water producing device  212  produces cold water in a cooling mode, and produces hot water in a heating mode. Hot or cold water produced in the hot/cold water producing device  212  is fed to an indoor heat exchanger  218  so as to heat or cool room air. A second circulation pump  220  is installed to smoothly circulate water between the indoor heat exchanger  218  and the hot/cold water producing device  212 . 
     Since a refrigerant pipe  212 A of the hot/cold water producing device  212  is not directly connected to the indoor heat exchanger  218 , it is possible to minimize the length of the refrigerant pipe  212 A. Further, the reason why the refrigerant pipe  212 A is not directly connected to the indoor heat exchanger  218  is to overcome a problem that the indoor heat exchanger  218  may have a structural defect, and fail to endure the excessively high pressure and unexpectedly explode when the operational pressure of the CO 2  used as the refrigerant reaches 80˜150 atm. As a result, the hot/cold water producing device  212 , producing hot or cold water to heat or cool room air, makes it easy to maintain and repair the refrigerant pipe, and prevents the indoor heat exchanger  218  from unexpected explosion. 
     The operation of the air conditioner according to the present invention is as follows. 
     FIG. 3A is a view showing a refrigeration cycle of the air conditioner having the hot/cold water producing device according to FIG. 2, in a cooling mode. In FIG. 3A, the arrows shown by solid lines show a flowing direction of the refrigerant, whereas the arrows shown by dotted lines show a flowing direction of water. In the cooling mode, hot water is produced in the hot water producing device  204 , and cold water is produced in the hot/cold water producing device  212 . That is, it is possible to produce hot water as well as cold water in the cooling mode, thus achieving the supply of hot water to a desired place as well as cooling room air in such a cooling mode. 
     As shown in FIG. 3A, when the gaseous refrigerant having a high temperature and a high pressure from the compressor  202  is fed to the hot water producing device  204 , heat is transferred from the high temperature refrigerant to relatively low temperature water. Through such a heat exchanging process, the temperature of water is increased but the temperature of the refrigerant is reduced. As such, hot water produced in the hot water producing device  204  flows from said device  204  by an operation of the first circulation pump  214  and then is stored in the hot water storage tank  216 . In such a case, the refrigerant fed from the hot water producing device  204  flows into the outdoor heat exchanger  208  through the four-way valve  206 . In this case, heat is transferred from the high temperature refrigerant to relatively low temperature outside air in the outdoor heat exchanger  208 , so the temperature of the refrigerant is further reduced. The expansion valve  210  reduces the pressure of the gaseous refrigerant having a high pressure fed from the outdoor heat exchanger  208 , thus making a low temperature and a low pressure refrigerant which flows into the hot/cold water producing device  212 , so cold water is produced in the hot/cold water producing device  212 . When cold water, produced in the hot/cold water producing device  212 , is fed into the indoor heat exchanger  218 , the cold water absorbs heat from room air, so the temperature of room air is reduced and the temperature of the cold water is increased. The refrigerant from the hot/cold water producing device  212  returns to the compressor  202  via the four-way valve  206 . As such, the air conditioner according to the present invention produces both hot water and cold water in the cooling mode, thus achieving the supply of hot water and the room air cooling effect at the same time. 
     FIG. 3B is a view showing a refrigeration cycle of the air conditioner having the hot/cold water producing device according to FIG. 2, in a heating mode. In FIG. 3B, the arrows shown by solid lines show a flowing direction of the refrigerant, whereas the arrows shown by dotted lines show a flowing direction of water. In the heating mode, the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention produces hot water in both the hot/cold water producing device  212  and the hot water producing device  204 . 
     As shown in the FIG. 3B, when the gaseous refrigerant having a high temperature and a high pressure from the compressor  202  is fed to the hot water producing device  204 , heat is transferred from the high temperature refrigerant to relatively low temperature water. Through such a heat exchanging process, the temperature of water in the hot water producing device  204  is increased but the temperature of the refrigerant is reduced. As such, hot water produced in the hot water producing device  204  flows by an operation of the first circulation pump  214  and then is stored in the hot water storage tank  216 . The refrigerant from the hot water producing device  204  flows into the hot/cold water producing device  212  via the four-way valve  206 . Since the refrigerant flowing into the hot/cold water producing device  212  still has a high temperature and a high pressure, heat is transferred from the high temperature refrigerant to the relatively low temperature water in said hot/cold water producing device  212 , so the temperature of the refrigerant is reduced and the temperature of the water is increased, thus producing hot water. When the hot water produced in the hot/cold water producing device  212  is fed into the indoor heat exchanger  218 , heat is transferred from the hot water to the relatively low temperature room air. At this time, as the temperature of the room air is increased, a room air heating effect is accomplished. That is, the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention in the heating mode accomplishes the supply of hot water and the room air heating effect. 
     As described above, the present invention provides an air conditioner, which produces hot water and cools room air at the same time in a cooling mode, and which produces hot water and heats room air at the same time in a heating mode, thus always supplying hot water while heating or cooling room air. 
     Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.