Integrated Refrigerant Valve for Compact Flow Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing refrigerant circuits in motor vehicles are complex, heavy, and require significant installation space due to multiple valves and connection lines, especially when using carbon dioxide as a refrigerant, which increases operational costs and complexity.
Innovation Solution
A device with a housing and valve element designed to combine multiple valve functions into a single component, featuring a cylindrical valve element with sections connected via a coupling element, allowing for linear movement and pressure balance to reduce operational force, and utilizing a drive element for control, thereby minimizing weight, complexity, and installation space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple valves and connection lines are used in refrigerant circuits, then diverse thermal management functions are achieved, but device complexity, weight, and installation space increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple valve functions (three-way valve and expansion valve) into a single integrated device with a common housing and shared drive mechanism. This merging eliminates the need for separate valves and connection lines, directly reducing system complexity while maintaining diverse thermal management capabilities through internal flow path configuration
Solution Approach 2:
The single valve device performs multiple functions simultaneously - it acts as both a three-way valve for flow distribution and an expansion valve for refrigerant expansion. The device can direct refrigerant flow to different circuits (cooling circuit, heating circuit, defrost circuit) while also providing expansion function, thereby achieving universal thermal management control
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple valves and actuators are installed in refrigerant circuits, then diverse flow control functions are achieved, but weight and installation space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple valve bodies and actuators into a single integrated unit with common housing and shared drive mechanism. This consolidation directly reduces the total weight of the refrigerant circuit components while maintaining diverse flow control functions through internal passage design
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple valves and connection lines are used in refrigerant circuits, then diverse thermal management functions are achieved, but installation space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates multiple valve functions into a single compact device with shared housing and connection ports. This merging eliminates the need for separate valve installations and extensive connection line routing, directly reducing the installation space required in the vehicle while maintaining diverse thermal management capabilities
4Productivity
If carbon dioxide is used as refrigerant with multiple valves, then efficient thermal management is achieved, but operational force requirements and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the three-way valve and expansion valve functions in a single device, eliminating redundant valve operations. This integration reduces the total operational force required to control the refrigerant flow through the system, as the shared drive mechanism can coordinate flow direction and expansion in a single operational sequence rather than requiring separate actuations for each valve
Data Source
AI summary
A device for regulating a throughflow and distributing a fluid in a fluid circuit, in particular a refrigerant. The device has a housing with ports for connecting to fluid lines which are connected to at least one inner volume of the housing designed as a valve chamber via a respective through opening, and at least one valve element arranged in the valve chamber with a drive element for moving the valve element relative to the housing. The at least one valve element is mounted such that it can be displaced in a linear manner in the axial direction along a longitudinal axis such that a passage for the fluid is opened between a first port designed as an inlet and a second port designed as a first outlet and/or a third port designed as a second outlet.