US4843826A — Vehicle air conditioner

Claim 1

Independent Claim 172 words

An air conditioning system for a vehicle such as a bus or the like, comprising: a refrigerator having a cold head; a heat exchanger mounted on said cold head and including: a heat conductive housing having an inlet and an outlet and a chamber connecting said inlet and outlet; and heat conductive material in said chamber in intimate thermal contact with said housing and having a plurality of fluid flow paths therein extending from said inlet to said outlet, each of said paths being in intimate thermal contact with said housing through said material; means for circulating a working fluid between said heat exchanger and locations in said vehicle to be cooled; heat exchanger means coupled to said circulating means at each of said locations; means for blowing air to be cooled through said heat exchanger means; return means for recirculating air from the interior of said vehicle to said blowing means, and means for controlling said refrigerator and said blowing means for regulating the temperature of the air in said vehicle.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 172 words

An air conditioning system for a vehicle such as a bus or the like, comprising: a refrigerator having a cold head; a heat exchanger mounted on said cold head and including: a heat conductive housing having an inlet and an outlet and a chamber connecting said inlet and outlet; and heat conductive material in said chamber in intimate thermal contact with said housing and having a plurality of fluid flow paths therein extending from said inlet to said outlet, each of said paths being in intimate thermal contact with said housing through said material; means for circulating a working fluid between said heat exchanger and locations in said vehicle to be cooled; heat exchanger means coupled to said circulating means at each of said locations; means for blowing air to be cooled through said heat exchanger means; return means for recirculating air from the interior of said vehicle to said blowing means, and means for controlling said refrigerator and said blowing means for regulating the temperature of the air in said vehicle.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 35 words

The vehicle air conditioning system of claim 1 wherein said heat conductive housing includes rib means extending into said chamber for improving thermal contact with portions of said material in central areas of said chamber.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 45 words

The vehicle air conditioning system of claim 2 wherein said fluid flow paths include a plurality of heat conductive tubes, and wherein said material includes heat conductive filler material occupying the interstitial spaces between adjacent tubes and between said tubes and said and said housing.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 14 words

The vehicle air conditioning system of claim 2 wherein said material includes metal foam.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 19 words

The vehicle air conditioning system of claim 1 wherein said refrigerator includes an electrically powered modified stirling cycle refrigerator.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 40 words

The vehicle air conditioning system of claim 1 wherein said heat exchanger means includes heat conductive finned means attached in thermal contact with said circulating means, and means for exhausting liquid condensing on said heat exchanger means from said vehicle.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 38 words

The vehicle air conditioning system of claim 6 wherein said exhausting means includes a downwardly extending portion of said finned means and trough means positioned under said downwardly extending portion for collecting water dripping from said finned means.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 108 words

An air conditioning system, comprising: a modified Stirling cycle refrigerator having a cold head; a heat exchanger mounted in intimate thermal contact with said cold head and including: a thermally conductive housing mounted on said cold head, said housing having an inlet and an outlet; and thermally conductive material in said housing, said material being in intimate thermal contact with said housing and having a plurality of fluid flow paths therein passing between said inlet and said outlet; means for pumping a fluid through said material for cooling said fluid; and means for circulating said fluid from the outlet of said housing to a location to be cooled.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 108 words

An air conditioning system, comprising: a modified Stirling cycle refrigerator having a cold head; a heat exchanger mounted in intimate thermal contact with said cold head and including: a thermally conductive housing mounted on said cold head, said housing having an inlet and an outlet; and thermally conductive material in said housing, said material being in intimate thermal contact with said housing and having a plurality of fluid flow paths therein passing between said inlet and said outlet; means for pumping a fluid through said material for cooling said fluid; and means for circulating said fluid from the outlet of said housing to a location to be cooled.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 42 words

The air conditioning system of claim 8 wherein said material includes a plurality of metal tubes each extending from said inlet to said outlet and a heat conductive filler filling the interstities between adjacent tubes and between said tubes and said housing.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 25 words

The air conditioning system of claim 3 wherein said material includes foam metal filling the interior of said housing from the inlet to the outlet.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 25 words

The air conditioning system of claim 10 wherein said fluid includes air, and further including means for circulating said air to the volume being cooled.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 59 words

The air conditioning system of claim 11 wherein said circulating means includes a duct connecting the said outlet to a plurality of locations in said volume, blower means at each of said locations for drawing cooled air from said duct and expelling said cooled air into said volume, and means for selectively controlling the actuation of said blower means.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 26 words

The air conditioning system of claim 12 further including means proximate said outlet for collecting and removing water condensed from said air by said heat exchanger.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 21 words

The air conditioning system of claim 12 further including means for filtering particulates from the air before it enters said inlet.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 105 words

The air conditioning system of claim 9 wherein said fluid includes a working liquid and said circulating means includes a tube for circulating said liquid from the outlet of said heat exchanger to a plurality of locations in the area to be cooled and said pumping means and back to the inlet of said heat exchanger, and further including a second heat exchanger at each of said locations, said second heat exchangers each including a plurality of heat conductive fins affixed to said tube, a fan for blowing air to be cooled through said fins, and means for selectively controlling the actuation of said fans.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 24 words

The air conditioning system of claim 15 wherein said second heat exchangers further include means for collecting and removing water condensing on said fins.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1992-07-03	1993-01-02	1993-07-04	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1996-07-03	1997-01-02	1997-07-04	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2000-07-03	2001-01-02	2001-07-04	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Vehicle air conditioner

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