VORTEX TUBE, AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM WITH VORTEX TUBE, AND ASSOCIATED CONTROL METHOD

Abstract

An air conditioning system, a vortex tube, a vortex generating member, and a method for controlling an air conditioning system are provided. The air conditioning system includes a vortex tube that produces cold air and hot air, a blower device that supplies air to the vortex tube, and an indoor unit located in an indoor space that selectively releases one of the cold air and the hot air produced from the vortex tube to the indoor space.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to, claims the priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) of a Korean patent application filed on Apr. 13, 2015 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office and assigned Serial No. 10-2015-0051631, the disclosure of which is incorporated hereby by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present disclosure relates to a vortex tube that produces cold and hot air, an air conditioning system with the vortex tube, and associated control method.

2. Description of the Related Art

Among devices used in industry, there is a vortex tube that produces cold air and hot air using vortex flows.

The vortex tube includes a vortex generating member for generating a vortex, a vortex guide tube for guiding the vortex created by the vortex generating member, a valve for releasing part of the vortex delivered through the vortex guide tube while having the remaining part of the vortex flow back to the vortex guide tube.

When high-pressured air is supplied by a compressor into the vortex tube, a first vortex traveling toward the valve absorbs heat from a second vortex flowing back by the valve while intersecting the second vortex in the vortex guide tube. Accordingly, one side of the vortex tube releases cold air and the other side of the vortex tube releases hot air.

SUMMARY

Additional aspects and/or advantages will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

An air conditioning system and method for controlling the same, which may cool and heat an indoor space with cold and hot air produced from a vortex tube are disclosed.

An air conditioning system having a vortex tube that is able to more efficiently produce cold air are disclosed.

An air conditioning system having an indoor unit to more efficiently supply an indoor space with cold and hot air produced from a vortex tube is disclosed.

In accordance with an aspect of an exemplary embodiment, an air conditioning system is provided. The air conditioning system includes a vortex tube that produces cold air and hot air, a blower device that supplies air to the vortex tube, and an indoor unit located in an indoor space that selectively releases one of the cold air and the hot air produced from the vortex tube to the indoor space.

The air conditioning system may include a generating unit that receives one of the cold air and the hot air produced from the vortex tube to generate electricity.

The generating unit may include a sterling engine.

The air conditioning system may include a vortex generating member that generates a vortex, a vortex guide tube that guides the vortex generated by the vortex generating member, and a valve that releases a part of the vortex delivered from the vortex guide tube and having the remaining of the vortex flow back to the vortex guide tube.

The vortex generating member may include a plurality of vortex inducing portions arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction, a division tube formed on the inside of the vortex inducing portions to have the form of a tube and be separate from the vortex inducing portions, and a through hole formed within the division tube that allows a vortex to pass through the vortex generating member.

The outer circumferential face of the division tube may extend toward the valve and have a tapering diameter.

The division tube may include a vortex inducing groove formed in a spiral form on the outer circumferential face of the division tube.

The vortex guide tube may be shaped like a cylinder with a cavity, and may include a vortex generation unit that forms a vortex generation room with the vortex generating member installed therein and a vortex guide tube unit shaped like a tube and piped with the center of the vortex generation room, and the division tube may divide the inside of the vortex generation room in order for a first vortex produced by the vortex inducing portions to be guided by the outer circumferential face of the division tube and for a second vortex flowing back by the valve to be guided to the inside of the division tube.

The indoor unit may be shaped like a ring and may include a blower unit with a fluid path through which the cold air or the hot air delivered from the vortex tube flows formed therein, and the blower unit may include a discharging slit arranged on the inner circumference for releasing air forward.

In accordance with an aspect of an embodiment, a vortex tube is provided. The vortex tube includes a vortex generating member that generates a vortex, a vortex guide tube that guides the vortex generated by the vortex generating member, and a valve that releases a part of the vortex delivered from the vortex guide tube while having the remaining of the vortex flow back to the vortex guide tube, wherein the vortex generating member comprises a plurality of vortex inducing portions arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction, a division tube formed on the inside of the vortex inducing portions to have the form of a tube and be separate from the vortex inducing portions, and a through hole formed within the division tube that allows a vortex to pass through the vortex generating member.

In accordance with an aspect of an exemplary embodiment, a vortex generating member for vortex tube is provided. The vortex generating member for vortex tube includes a plurality of vortex inducing portions arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction, a division tube formed on the inside of the vortex inducing portions to have the form of a tube and be separate from the vortex inducing portions; and a through hole formed within the division tube that allows a vortex to pass through the vortex generating member.

In accordance with an aspect of an exemplary embodiment, a method for controlling an air conditioning system is provided. The method includes determining whether a mode is selected by a user, determining if the mode selected by the user is cooling mode; and guiding cold air produced from a vortex tube to an indoor unit while guiding hot air produced from the vortex tube to a generating unit, if the selected mode is the cooling mode.

If the selected mode is not the cooling mode, cold air produced from a vortex tube may be guided to the generating unit while hot air produced from the vortex tube may be guided to the indoor unit.

Other aspects, advantages, and features of the disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an air conditioning system that performs cooling, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an air conditioning system that performs heating, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a vortex tube applied to an air conditioning system, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a vortex tube applied to an air conditioning system, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a generating unit included in an air conditioning system, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an indoor unit included in an air conditioning system, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of an indoor unit included in an air conditioning system, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a vortex generating member included in an air conditioning system, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a vortex generating member included in an air conditioning system, according to another embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a vortex generating member included in an air conditioning system, according to another embodiment; and

FIG. 11 is a control flowchart for an air conditioning system, according to an embodiment.

Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals will be understood to refer to like parts, components, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout.

An air conditioning system having a vortex tube in accordance with an embodiments described with reference to accompanying drawings.

According to an embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 1, an air conditioning system may include a vortex tube 10 that receives air with more than a certain pressure and produces cold air and hot air, a blower unit 20 that circulates air to supply the air with more than the certain pressure to the vortex tube 10, and a unit, e.g., an indoor unit 30 that cools or heats a space, e.g., an indoor space by supplying the indoor space with one of the cold air or the hot air produced from the vortex tube 10, and may thus use the vortex tube 10 in air conditioning of the indoor space.

The air conditioning system may include a generating unit 40 that receives one of the cold air and the hot air produced from the vortex tube 10 to generate electricity. According to an embodiment, the generating unit 40 may be comprised of a sterling engine.

The air conditioning system may include a three-way valve for cooling 50L that enables cold air produced from the vortex tube 10 to be delivered to one of the indoor unit 30 and the generating unit 40, and a three-way valve for heating 50H that enables hot air produced from the vortex tube 10 to be delivered to the other one of the indoor unit 30 and the generating unit 40.

In a case that the cooling mode is performed, the three-way valve for cooling 50L allows cold air produced from the vortex tube 10 to be delivered to the indoor unit 30 to perform cooling for the indoor space, and the three-way valve for heating 50H allows hot air produced from the vortex tube 10 to be delivered to the electricity unit 40 to generate electricity by using the hot air.

In a case that a heating mode is performed, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the tree-way valve for cooling 50L allows cold air produced from the vortex tube 10 to be delivered to the generating unit 40 to generate electricity using the cold air, and the three-way valve for heating 50H allows hot air produced from the vortex tube 10 to be delivered to the indoor unit 30 to perform heating for the indoor space.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the vortex tube 10 may include a vortex generating member 11 that generates a vortex with the air delivered from the blower unit 20, a vortex guide tube 12 shaped like a tube to guide a first vortex generated by the vortex generating member 11 and a second vortex flowing back by a valve 13, the valve 13 to release a part of the first vortex to the outside through the vortex guide tube 12 while having the remaining part of the first vortex flow back to the vortex guide tube 12, thereby creating the second vortex, and a cover member 14 combined with the vortex guide tube 12 for covering and shutting one side of a vortex generation room 12b located in the vortex guide tube 12.

The vortex generating member 11, as illustrated in FIG. 8, may include a base unit 11a having the form of a round plate, a plurality of vortex inducing portions 11b that protrude from a side of the base unit 11a and induce the air delivered to the vortex generation room 12b to be a vortex fluid, a fastener 11c that protrudes from the other side of the base unit 11a and has a screw, e.g., a male screw formed on the outer circumference for the vortex generating member 11 to be fastened with the cover member 14, a division tube 11d that divides the inside of the vortex generation room 12b to suppress the first vortex created by the vortex inducing portions 11b and the second vortex flowing back by the valve 13 from being mixed together in the vortex generation room 12b. In the middle of the vortex generating member 11, a through hole 11e may be formed to allow the second vortex flowing back by the valve 13 to pass through the vortex generating member 11. The through hole 113 may be formed in the center of the base unit 11a, the fastener 11c, and the division tube 11d.

The base unit 11a may be formed to have an outside diameter that matches the inside diameter of the vortex generation room 12b, so that the outer circumference of the base unit 11a may be bordered on the inner circumference of the vortex generation room 12b.

The vortex inducing portions 11b may be centered at the through hole 11e, and formed at intervals along the circumferential direction while inclining at an angle from the radial direction. Accordingly, the air flowing into the vortex generation room 12b may obliquely flow to the inner side of the radial direction through the space between the vortex inducing portions 11b, thereby generating a vortex.

Similar to the vortex inducing portions 11b, the division tube 11d may integrally extend from a side of the base unit 11a. According to an embodiment, the division tube 11d may be formed to be separate from the vortex inducing portions 11b arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction, on the inner side of the vortex inducing portions 11b.

Accordingly, the first vortex created by the vortex inducing portions 11b may be guided by the outer circumferential face of the division tube 11d to the vortex guide tube unit 12c of the vortex guide tube 12, and the second vortex flowing back by the valve 13 flows into the through hole 11e arranged in the division tube 11d.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the vortex guide tube 12 may be formed in a cylindrical form with a cavity, and includes the vortex creation unit 12a having a vortex generation room 12b arranged therein, a vortex guide tube unit 12c shaped like the form of a tube for guiding the vortex, and an air inlet port 12d arranged on one side of the vortex generation unit 12a to allow the air from the blower unit 20 to be delivered to the vortex generation room 12b.

The vortex generation room 12b may include the vortex generating member 11 to create a vortex. The vortex guide tube unit 12c may be piped with the center of the vortex generation room 12b. The air inlet port 12d may be approximately tangentially connected to the vortex generation room 12b, and allow the air delivered from the blower unit 20 to move along the inner wall of the vortex generation room 12b. In the embodiment, the vortex generation unit 12a and the vortex guide tube unit 12c may be separately manufactured and then combined, and the air inlet port 12d may be formed to be integral with the vortex generation unit 12a.

The first vortex generated from the vortex generation room 12b and the second vortex flowing back by the valve 13 may intersect each other in the vortex guide tube unit 12c and at this time, the first vortex may absorb heat from the second vortex. As a result, the temperature of the first vortex rises while the temperature of the second vortex drops. Thus, the second vortex returning to the vortex generation room 12b may become cold air with a low temperature, and if the second vortex is mixed with the first vortex with a relatively higher temperature in the vortex generation room 12b, a temperature of the cold air released through a cold air discharging tube 14c may rise.

However, as described above, suppression of the first and second vortexes from being mixed together in the vortex generation room 12b may lead to the second vortex passing through the through hole 113 while remaining at a low temperature and then being discharged to the cold air discharging tube 14c. In other words, cold air with even a lower temperature may be obtained through the division tube 11d.

The valve 13 may include a valve combiner 13a to be fastened with the vortex guide tube unit 12c, a back-flow inducing portion 13b that induces the vortex to flow backwards, and a connector 13c that connects the valve combiner 13a and the back-flow inducing portion 13b. The connector 13c may include a hot air discharger 13d to release part of the first vortex that has turned into hot air by absorbing heat from the second vortex.

The cover member 14 may include a cover unit 14b that covers the vortex generation room 12b, a cover combiner 14a formed on one side of the cover unit 14b and a screw-combined with the vortex generation unit 12a, and the cold air discharging tube 14c formed on the other side of the cover unit 14b that discharges the second vortex flowing back to the vortex generation room 12b in a state of cold air. According to an embodiment, the cover unit 14b may have the form of an approximately octagonal plate such that the cover member 14 may be smoothly turned by a tool like a wrench and fastened with the vortex guide tube 12.

The generating unit 40, may include a sterling engine having cylinders 41A, 41B, e.g., a pair of cylinders, pistons, e.g., a pair of pistons (not illustrated) movably installed within the cylinders 41A, 41B, a crank shaft 42 that transforms a back-and-forth motion into a rotational motion, and a generator 46 for generating electricity by receiving rotational power from the crankshaft 42 through a driving pulley 43, a driven pulley 44, and a belt 45.

Accordingly, when the cold air or hot air produced from the vortex tube 10 is supplied to the generating unit 40, the pistons may move back and forth within the cylinders 41A, 41B and turn the crank shaft 42, the rotational power produced from the crankshaft 42 may be delivered to the generator 46 through the pulleys 43, 44 and the belt 45, and the generator 46 may generate electricity.

The electricity produced by the generator 46 of the generating unit 40 may be delivered to the blower unit 20 and used to drive the blower unit 20. This may reduce consumption power to be used to operate the air conditioning system.

While the generating unit 40 may be comprised of the sterling engine in the embodiment, this is illustrated by way of example and other various devices configured to receive cold or hot air to generate electricity may also be used.

The blower unit 20 may include a fan 21 that sucks and blows air while being rotated, and may supply the vortex tube 10 with air with more than a certain pressure.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, the indoor unit 30 may be shaped like a ring, and may include a blower unit 31 in which a fluid path for the cold or hot air delivered from the vortex tube may be formed, a frame unit 32 that may be shaped like a rectangle and having the blower unit 31 formed on the inner side, a connection tube 33 connected to the vortex tube 10 that receives cold or hot air, and a supporter 34 with one end connected onto the outer circumferential face of the blower unit 31 and the other end connected to the inner side of the frame unit 32 such that the blower unit 21 may be supported within the frame unit 32 along an axis A. The blower unit 31 may include a discharging slit 31a arranged inside the inner circumference of the blower unit 31 in a ring shape, to release air forward of the indoor unit 30 from the blower unit 31.

While the outer circumferential face of the division tube 11d may be shaped like a cylinder in the embodiment, it is not limited thereto and it is also possible to concavely form a vortex inducing groove 11f in a spiral form on the outer circumferential face of a division tube 11d-1 as illustrated in FIG. 9.

With the configuration, a vortex may further be induced by the circumferential face of the division tube 11d.

While the outer circumferential face of the division tube 11d is formed to have a constant diameter in this embodiment, it is not limited thereto, and the diameter of the outer circumference of a division tube 11d-2 as illustrated in another embodiment of FIG. 10 tapers toward the top end of the division tube 11d from the base unit 11a, i.e. the outer circumferential face of the division tube 11d-2 may be formed to be inclined.

With this configuration, the vortex produced from the vortex inducing portion 11b may be delivered to the vortex guide tube unit 12c while remaining at a fast speed.

Furthermore, although not illustrated, it is also possible to form the outer circumferential face of the division tube to have the vortex inducing groove as illustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 9 and simultaneously, to be inclined as illustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 10.

According to an embodiment, a vortex may be induced even by the outer circumferential face of the division tube, and at the same time, the vortex created by the vortex inducing portions may be delivered to the vortex guide tube unit while remaining at a fast speed.

A method for controlling the air conditioning system in accordance with is described in connection with FIG. 11.

According to an embodiment, it is determined whether a mode is selected by the user, in operation S10. If it is determined that a mode is selected by the user, it is determined whether or not the mode is cooling mode, in operation S20. If the mode is the cooling mode, the three-way valve for cooling 50L and three-way valve for heating 50H are controlled such that cold air produced from the vortex tube 10 is guided to the indoor unit 30 while hot air produced from the vortex tube 10 is guided to the generating unit 40, in operation S30. Accordingly, cooling is performed for the indoor space by using the cold air released from the indoor unit 30.

If the mode is not a cooling mode, the three-way valve for cooling 50L and three-way valve for heating 50H are controlled such that cold air produced from the vortex tube 10 is guided to the generating unit 40 while hot air produced from the vortex tube 10 is guided to the indoor unit 30, in operation S40. Accordingly, heating is performed for the indoor space by using the hot air released from the indoor unit 30.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the air conditioning system may cool or heat an indoor space by using an indoor unit to supply the indoor space with cold or hot air produced from a vortex tube.

Furthermore, it may supply cold or hot air produced from a vortex tube for a generating unit to generate electricity and also supply the cold or hot air to a blower unit, thereby decreasing power consumption of the air conditioning system.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, a guide tube may arranged inside vortex forming units to suppress the air supplied from the blower unit and the air flowing backwards from being mixed together, thereby more efficiently producing cold air through the vortex tube.

Several embodiments have thus been described, but it will be understood that various modifications can be made without departing the scope of the present disclosure. Thus, it will be apparent to those ordinary skilled in the art that the disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described, but can encompass not only the appended claims but the equivalents.

Claims

1. An air conditioning system comprising: a vortex tube that produces cold air and hot air;a blower device that supplies air to the vortex tube; andan unit located in a space that selectively releases one of the cold air and the hot air produced from the vortex tube to the space.

2. The air conditioning system of claim 1, further comprising: a generating unit that receives one of the cold air and the hot air produced from the vortex tube to generate electricity.

3. The air conditioning system of claim 2, wherein the generating unit comprises a sterling engine.

4. The air conditioning system of claim 1, further comprising: a vortex generating member that generates a vortex;a vortex guide tube that guides the vortex generated by the vortex generating member; anda valve that releases a part of the vortex delivered from the vortex guide tube and having the remaining of the vortex flow back to the vortex guide tube.

5. The air conditioning system of claim 4, wherein the vortex generating member comprises: a plurality of vortex inducing portions arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction,a division tube formed on an inside of the vortex inducing portions to have the form of a tube and be separate from the vortex inducing portions, anda through hole formed within the division tube that allows a vortex to pass through the vortex generating member.

6. The air conditioning system of claim 5, wherein the outer circumferential face of the division tube extends toward the valve and has a tapering diameter.

7. The air conditioning system of claim 5, wherein the division tube comprises a vortex inducing groove formed in a spiral form on the outer circumferential face of the division tube.

8. The air conditioning system of claim 5, wherein the vortex guide tube is shaped like a cylinder with a cavity, and includes a vortex generation unit that forms a vortex generation room with the vortex generating member installed therein and a vortex guide tube unit shaped like a tube and piped with a center of the vortex generation room, andwherein the division tube divides an inside of the vortex generation room in order for a first vortex produced by the vortex inducing portions to be guided by the outer circumferential face of the division tube and for a second vortex flowing back by the valve to be guided to the inside of the division tube.

9. The air conditioning system of claim 1, wherein the unit is shaped like a ring and includes a blower unit with a fluid path through which the cold air or the hot air delivered from the vortex tube flows formed therein, andwherein the blower unit includes a discharging slit arranged on an inner circumference of the blower unit that releases air forward.

10. A vortex tube comprising: a vortex generating member that generates a vortex;a vortex guide tube that guides the vortex generated by the vortex generating member; anda valve that releases a part of the vortex delivered from the vortex guide tube while having the remaining of the vortex flow back to the vortex guide tube,wherein the vortex generating member comprises a plurality of vortex inducing portions arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction, a division tube formed on an inside of the vortex inducing portions to have the form of a tube and be separate from the vortex inducing portions, and a through hole formed within the division tube that allows a vortex to pass through the vortex generating member.

11. The vortex tube of claim 10, wherein the outer circumferential face of the division tube extends toward the valve and has a tapering diameter.

12. The vortex tube of claim 10, wherein the division tube comprises a vortex inducing groove formed in a spiral form on the outer circumferential face of the division tube.

13. A vortex generating member for vortex tube comprising: a plurality of vortex inducing portions arranged at intervals in a circumferential direction;a division tube formed on an inside of the vortex inducing portions to have the form of a tube and be separate from the vortex inducing portions; anda through hole formed within the division tube that allows a vortex to pass through the vortex generating member.

14. The vortex generating member for vortex tube of claim 13, wherein the outer circumferential face of the division tube extends toward the valve and has a tapering diameter.

15. The vortex generating member for vortex tube of claim 13, wherein the division tube comprises a vortex inducing groove formed in a spiral form on the outer circumferential face of the division tube.

16. A method for controlling an air conditioning system, the method comprising: determining whether a mode is selected by a user;determining if the mode selected by the user is a cooling mode; andupon determining that the selected mode is the cooling mode, guiding cold air produced from a vortex tube to a unit while guiding hot air produced from the vortex tube to a generating unit.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: upon determining that the selected mode is not the cooling mode, guiding cold air produced from a vortex tube to the generating unit while guiding hot air produced from the vortex tube to the unit.

18. The air conditioning system of claim 1, wherein the unit is an indoor unit,the space is an indoor space, andthe indoor unit selectively releases one of the cold air and the hot air produced from the vortex tube to the indoor space.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the unit is an indoor unit.