Patent ID: 7421855

Claim:
A system that handles a mixture of liquid refrigerant and gaseous refrigerant, the system comprising: a compressor, a condenser shell, a flow restriction, and an evaporator shell connected in series flow relationship, wherein the liquid refrigerant and the gaseous refrigerant flow upward through the evaporator shell; a plurality of heat exchanger tubes disposed inside the evaporator shell; and a first distributor disposed beneath the plurality of heat exchanger tubes, the first distributor and the evaporator shell define a first gas trap chamber therebetween such that a lower liquid/vapor refrigerant level develops within the first gas trap chamber, the liquid refrigerant flows from within the first gas trap chamber and flows generally upward toward the plurality of heat exchanger tubes, the lower liquid/vapor refrigerant level helps momentarily trap at least some of the gaseous refrigerant in the first gas trap chamber, thereby displacing at least some liquid refrigerant therein.