Electrical Box O-Ring Sealing Against Heat Pump Refrigerant Leaks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heat pump apparatuses fail to prevent refrigerant leaks from entering the electrical equipment box, posing a risk of refrigerant ingress and potential ignition due to the use of flammable refrigerants.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating an O-ring groove in the electrical equipment box body or cover member, with the cover member and electrical equipment box body fixed using fixing screws to sandwich an O-ring, creating a sealed space that prevents refrigerant leakage into the electrical equipment box.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the electrical equipment box is left open or improperly sealed, then ease of operation and maintenance is improved, but refrigerant leakage into the electrical equipment box occurs causing safety hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs an O-ring (a flexible sealing element) installed in a groove on the electrical equipment box cover to create a seal between the cover and the box body. This flexible sealing mechanism effectively prevents refrigerant from entering the electrical equipment box while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure, thus resolving the contradiction between reliability and device complexity.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a sealing structure is added to prevent refrigerant ingress, then safety is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The O-ring sealing structure utilizes a simple groove feature on the electrical equipment box cover that is easy to manufacture using conventional machining processes. The O-ring itself is a standard sealing component that can be easily installed, making the overall sealing solution both effective and manufacturable without significantly increasing production complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing function is segmented into a dedicated O-ring component and a groove structure, separating the sealing function from the main electrical equipment box structure. This segmentation allows the sealing mechanism to be independently manufactured and replaced if needed, improving ease of manufacture and maintenance.
3Reliability
If the electrical equipment box is tightly sealed, then refrigerant containment is improved, but ease of repair and access to electrical components deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The electrical equipment box is segmented into a removable cover and a box body, with the O-ring providing the seal at the interface. This segmentation allows the cover to be easily removed for accessing electrical components during repair or maintenance, while the O-ring groove ensures that a simple sealing mechanism maintains reliability when the cover is installed. The sealing function is achieved without permanently fixed complex structures.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present disclosure provides a heat pump apparatus capable of preventing a refrigerant from entering an electrical equipment box when the refrigerant leaks from a refrigerant circuit. A heat pump apparatus 1 includes a machine room 13 and a blower room 12 each in a housing 10, the machine room 13 being a room in which a compressor 22 and an expansion device 24 are included, the blower room 12 being a room in which a heat exchanger 20 and a blower are included, wherein: an electrical equipment box 30 is disposed above the machine room 13 and the blower room 12 across the rooms; the electrical equipment box 30 includes an electrical equipment box body 32 and a cover member 33; and an O-ring groove 36 is included in the electrical equipment box body 32 or the cover member 33, the cover member 33 and the electrical equipment box body 32 are fixed with fixing screws 37A to 37D in a state in which an O-ring 38, which is inserted in the O-ring groove 36, is sandwiched between the cover member 33 and the electrical equipment box body 32.