Refrigeration system

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional refrigeration apparatuses with cascade heat exchangers face challenges in carrying and installation due to protruding insulating structures, which increase the depth dimension and reduce storage volume, making them difficult to carry through standard entrances and requiring laborious installation processes.

Innovation Solution

The refrigeration apparatus features a side wall opening for the mechanical chamber, allowing the insulating structure with the cascade heat exchanger to be inserted from the rear, with pipes extending from the opposite end, and uses vacuum insulating panels and foam insulation to reduce the thickness of the insulating material while maintaining effective insulation.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the insulating structure is provided externally to cover the cascade heat exchanger, then the insulation performance is improved, but the depth dimension of the apparatus increases and storage volume decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinsulation performanceVSAvoidstorage volume
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSVolume of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The cascade heat exchanger is nested within the insulating structure, with the insulating material positioned between the heat exchanger and the external environment. This integration allows the insulation function to be achieved without adding external protrusions, thereby maintaining storage volume while ensuring thermal insulation performance.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

Solution Approach 2:

The insulating structure is repositioned from an external attachment to an internal integration within the apparatus depth dimension. By incorporating the insulation layer within the existing structural depth rather than adding it externally, the storage volume is preserved while insulation effectiveness is maintained.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Reliability

If the insulating material thickness is increased to prevent dew attachment, then the insulation performance is improved, but the apparatus becomes difficult to carry through standard entrances

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinsulation performanceVSAvoiddepth dimension
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLength of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The insulating material is strategically positioned only at critical locations where dew condensation is most likely to occur, such as around the cascade heat exchanger and other cold surfaces. This localized insulation approach provides sufficient protection against dew attachment without requiring uniform thick insulation throughout the entire apparatus, thereby maintaining a compact depth dimension suitable for carrying through standard entrances.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

3Volume of moving object

If the insulating structure is integrated into the main body, then the storage volume is improved, but the installation process becomes more complex

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvestorage volumeVSAvoidinstallation process
Core Design Contradiction:
Volume of moving objectVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The insulating structure is designed as a separate, modular component that can be independently manufactured and then installed as a unit. This segmentation allows for simplified manufacturing and installation processes, as the insulating structure can be pre-assembled and then integrated into the main body without requiring complex in-situ construction, thereby balancing storage volume optimization with ease of installation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

This design enables easy carrying and installation by reducing the depth dimension of the apparatus, avoiding protrusions that could get stuck in entrances and minimizing the required installation area, while maintaining efficient insulation and storage volume.

Implementation Method 1

an insulating structure having first and second opposite ends and in which the periphery of the cascade heat exchanger is surrounded with insulating material

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectThermal Insulation: Thermal Insulation

Implementation Method 2

an evaporator of the low-temperature-side refrigerant circuit being configured to cool a storage chamber constituted in an insulating box body to an extremely low temperature

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectHeat Exchanger: Heat Exchanger

Implementation Method 3

a refrigerant discharged from a compressor is condensed and then evaporated to exert a cooling function

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectEvaporation: Evaporation

Data Source

PatentEP2019270B1Refrigeration system
Publication Date: 2017.12.13 PHC HLDG CORP
  • EP2019270B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2019270B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2019270B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4

AI summary

There is disclosed a refrigeration apparatus including a cascade heat exchanger and capable of reducing the depth dimension of the apparatus itself without being influenced by the thickness dimension of an insulating material for covering the cascade heat exchanger, so that the apparatus can easily be carried indoors through a usual carrying entrance. In a refrigeration apparatus 1 including a high-temperature-side refrigerant circuit 25 and a low-temperature-side refrigerant circuit 38, an evaporator 34 of the high-temperature-side refrigerant circuit 25 and a condensing pipe 42 of the low-temperature-side refrigerant circuit 25 constitute a cascade heat exchanger 43, and an evaporation pipe 62 of the low-temperature-side refrigerant circuit 38 is configured to cool a storage chamber 4 constituted in an insulating box body 2 to an extremely low temperature. The apparatus includes a mechanical chamber 3 which is constituted by the side of an insulating box body 2 and in which a compressor 10 and the like are installed, and an insulating structure 70 in which the periphery of the cascade heat exchanger 34 is surrounded with an insulating material is arranged in a side wall of the insulating box body 2 on the side of the mechanical chamber 3.