Patent ID: 8863544

Claim:
A small-size and light-weight environmental control apparatus for aircraft-external stores, the environmental control apparatus supplying a constant temperature environment to an image information acquisition apparatus provided in a pod of an aircraft and comprising: (A) a condensation air flow loop in which a ground fan driven when the aircraft is moved on a ground and a ram air scoop driven when the aircraft flies perform a thermal exchange with a condenser forming a cooling/heating flow loop; (B) the cooling/heating flow loop including an evaporator configured to absorb surrounding evaporation heat by evaporating the refrigerant, a compressor configured to have a rotating shaft coupled to a shaft of a ram air turbine, a condenser configured to perform a thermal exchange by the condensation air flow loop, an expansion valve configured to expand the refrigerant condensed by the condenser, and a heater, wherein the evaporator, the compressor, the condenser, and the expansion valve are interconnected by a refrigerant circulation line; (C) an air circulation loop for circulating and supplying cooled or heated air by the cooling/heating flow loop to a camera/electronic unit so that the camera/electronic unit maintains a constant temperature; and (D) a controller for controlling a driving of the constituent elements in each of the loops, wherein the environmental control apparatus does not include a liquid receiver.